Water Quality in the Gaza Strip: The Present Scenario

The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, 4505 people per km2 and the only source of water is represent by groundwater. The water quality in Gaza is very poor and the groundwater is affected by many different contaminants sources including soil/water interaction in the unsaturated zone due to recharge and return flows, mobilization of deep brines, sea water intrusion or upcoming and disposal of domestic and industrial wastes into the aquifer. Previous reports on the water quality in Gaza discussed the high levels of major ions (especially of chloride, nitrate and fluoride) in the drinking water. Moreover, little or no information is available for trace elements in the groundwater of the Gaza Strip. The sources of trace elements in groundwater could be natural and anthropogenic. 58 wells were sampled during July 2010, and were analyzed major ions and trace elements to check if the water quality is improving from the previous report. This study has revealed that no groundwater in Gaza Strip meets all WHO drinking water standards. The contaminants which affected the Gaza Strip are of different types and they originate from different sources. The environmental conditions are no safe for the population and some actions to improve the groundwater conditions are necessary to safeguard the population.