Israel is facing weeks of water shortages after an exceptional algae bloom crippled much of its desalination capacity, in a crisis scientists say was triggered when Israeli attacks destroyed much of Gaza’s wastewater infrastructure, causing a massive discharge of untreated sewage. The wastewater contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which feed microalgae and cyanobacteria and may intensify their blooms.” Despite last year’s US-brokered ceasefire, Gaza remains gripped by a severe water and sanitation crisis. The Palestinian territory is plagued by rodents, and sewage floods its coastline after Israel destroyed its wastewater treatment plants.
Just across the border, a vast bloom of microalgae stretching up to 60 miles (100km) long has clogged filters at five of Israel’s six main desalination plants, which were shut down for days and have since been operating at a reduced level. Experts say that after nearly three years of war, the environmental consequences of the destruction in Gaza are now spilling back into Israel. Direct strikes have been carried out on wells, carrier lines, reservoirs and desalination units.
Gaza’s water crisis remains severe. Before the war, 80% the territory’s supply came from an aquifer under the coastal strip, but that supply is now contaminated by seawater and wastewater and unfit for human consumption. Most of Gaza’s drinking water came from desalination plants and three pipelines controlled by the Israeli water authority, but those pipelines were cut at the start of the war and have only partially reopened.
Meanwhile, damaged or destroyed distribution networks have left much of the population reliant on water trucks. For many, this means a stark choice between drinking an extra cup of water or saving it to wash their hands and prevent disease, with acute diarrhoea among the leading causes of illness. Much of the water is unsafe, and children suffer recurring stomach infections, diarrhoea and skin rashes.
Damaged sewage networks and failed pumps have also left wastewater flowing between tents and through residential areas.” Omar Shatat, the deputy executive director of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility in Gaza, said all five of the territory’s wastewater treatment plants were out of service, leaving an estimated 45,000 cubic metres of untreated sewage to flow into the Mediterranean every day. In addition, about 15,000 cubic metres of untreated waste a day seeps into the groundwater from soakaway pits, particularly in the informal camps in al-Mawasi. It’s where they eat, where they get water, where they walk,” he said.
Shaimaa al-Katari, 37, who has been displaced to al-Mawasi, said: “We have nowhere to dispose of the water from washing dishes and clothes. We have to let it run into the street, which causes pools of stagnant water to form. Algae and mosquitoes then spread around them and the streets become dirty.
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