Public Participation and Response towards Water Resources Management Options in Gaza Strip, Palestine

2015 ◽  
Vol 802 ◽  
pp. 581-586
Author(s):  
Salem S. Abu Amr ◽  
Yousef Salah Abu Mayla ◽  
Mohamed J.K. Bashir ◽  
Hamidi Abdul Aziz

The Gaza Strip suffers from complicated problems of water resources. Groundwater (GW) aquifer is the main source of water for drinking, industry, and agriculture purposes in this area. However, the quality of GW is unsuitable for drinking and other purposes. Wastewater is an environmental, social, and economic resource that needs to be managed appropriately. The treated effluent quality does not satisfy the guidelines for discharge and reuse options because of the overload of wastewater treatment plants. This study evaluated the public response toward water resource management and reuse. A study population with 300 hundred questionnaire interviews was prepared and collected. Only 7.3% of the interviewed people used municipal water for drinking, and the others used desalinated water and home filter units. Approximately 96% believed that water in the Gaza Strip is unsuitable for drinking. Meanwhile, 85% agreed for an additional increase in municipal water bill in exchange for good quality of water that is suitable for drinking and other purposes. The study also reported that 63% of the interviewed people disagreed to reuse the current treated wastewater for agriculture and 82.3% disagreed to consume agriculture products irrigated by the treated wastewater.

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tewodros M. Tena ◽  
Phenny Mwaanga ◽  
Alick Nguvulu

The Chongwe River Catchment (CRC) is located in Zambia. It receives a mean annual precipitation of 889 mm. The catchment is facing growing anthropogenic and socio-economic activities leading to severe water shortages in recent years, particularly from July to October. The objective of this study was to assess the available water resources by investigating the important hydrological components and estimating the catchment water balance using the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model. The average precipitation over a 52 year period and a 34 year period of streamflow measurement data for four stations were used in the hydrological balance model. The results revealed that the catchment received an estimated mean annual precipitation of 4603.12 Mm3. It also released an estimated mean annual runoff and evapotranspiration of 321.94 Mm3 and 4063.69 Mm3, respectively. The estimated mean annual total abstractions in the catchment was 119.87 Mm3. The average annual change in the catchment storage was 120.18 Mm3. The study also determined an external inflow of 22.55 Mm3 from the Kafue River catchment. The simulated mean monthly streamflow at the outlet of the CRC was 10.32 m3/s. The estimated minimum and maximum streamflow volume of the Chongwe River was about 1.01 Mm3 in September and 79.7 Mm3 in February, respectively. The performance of the WEAP model simulation was assessed statistically using the coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.97) and the Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient (NSE = 0.64). The R2 and NSE values indicated a satisfactory model fit and result. Meeting the water demand of the growing population and associated socio-economic development activities in the CRC is possible but requires appropriate water resource management options.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunes Mogheir ◽  
Ahmad A. Foul ◽  
A. A. Abuhabib ◽  
A. W. Mohammad

Water scarcity is a serious challenge in the Gaza Strip, a region that is mostly considered to be semi-arid. In this region, the population's options for provision of potable water are limited to desalination of saline groundwater. Six large brackish water desalination plants (BWDPs) and one seawater desalination plant are operating and providing drinking water along with small private plants. The BWDPs were assessed in terms of operational conditions and quality of their feed and permeate with the aim of estimating essential improvements required as well as performance significance. All these plants are reverse osmosis plants and their operational conditions are similar in terms of production, recovery rate, and energy consumption. The quality of the plants’ feed was found not to comply with WHO and Palestinian Standards in most cases, unlike the permeate from all plants. The assessment made through this study assists in better understanding of the current situation of the large-scale desalination plants in Gaza and recommending essential improvements needed to increase water production of these plants without increasing abstraction and feed quantities. In addition, multi-criteria analysis used to evaluate BWDPs performance may assist in prioritizing improvements application.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sami M. Hamdan ◽  
Abdelmajid Nassar ◽  
Uwe Troeger

The Gaza Strip suffers from high pressure imposed on its water resources. There is a deficit of about 50 mm3 every year, which has led to a declination of groundwater level and deterioration of groundwater quality. New water resources are sought to fulfil the water deficit; among them is the artificial recharge of treated wastewater to groundwater. The impact of recharging partially treated wastewater in Gaza was tested through a pilot project implemented east of the existing wastewater treatment plant. The daily application of about 10,000 m3 of effluent to infiltration basins had an effect on the aquifer, which was monitored through the surrounding operating water wells over five years from 2000 until 2005. Although the monitored wells are operated for irrigation by farmers, impacts were clearly noticed. Groundwater levels improved and an increase in some areas of 0.6 m within three years was observed. The nitrate ion concentration also decreased in the groundwater due to nitrification processes. However, chloride ion, which indicates salinity, increased because the effluent has high chloride concentration. Boron levels increased in some areas to 0.5 mg/l, which could affect sensitive crops grown in the area.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 262
Author(s):  
Aymen Elsous ◽  
Suha Baloushah ◽  
Samira Barjasteh ◽  
Ali Aldirawi ◽  
Soha Abu Eid ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Mazen Abuatayef ◽  
Abedelmajeed Kahail ◽  
Hassan Al-Najjar ◽  
Thaer AbuShbak

Reverse osmosis (RO) technology shows common popularity in the field of water treatment as an advanced stage to eliminate the residual biogenic elements and dissolved impurities after the traditional treatment processes. This article highlights the applicability of using RO membrane technology as a post-treatment stage to treat the discharged effluent from the Gaza wastewater treatment plant. The designed experimental model reveals optimal removal efficiency between 92 and 100% for a number of physical, chemical and biological pollutants. The RO membrane unit demonstrates significant removal efficiency compared to the sand filter where the RO removal efficiency for BOD, TSS, TDS, Fecal Coliform and NO3 were 100, 97.5, 92, 100 and 100%, respectively. The quality of reclaimed wastewater was idealistic where the contents of BOD, Fecal Coliform and NO3 in the permeate were nil, and the concentrations of TDS and TSS were 20 and 296 ppm, respectively. Practically, the results confirm that the wastewater with the reclaimed quality could be used for agricultural activities with no degree of restriction according to FAO’s guidelines water quality for irrigation. According to the Palestinian Standard (PS), the quality of reclaimed wastewater is high, class (A), and it could be used without restrictions to irrigate many crops and for the purposes of groundwater replenishment. Related to energy estimation and cost analysis, the numerical model and the market analysis study demonstrate the energy of 1.23 kWh and total cost, i.e. fixed and energy costs, of 0.58 USD to produce 1 m3 of reclaimed wastewater using the RO membrane in the Gaza Strip over a projected lifespan of 5 years.


Author(s):  
Dua'a B. Telfah ◽  
Riccardo Minciardi ◽  
Giorgio Roth

Abstract. Modelling and optimization techniques for water resources allocation are proposed to identify the economic value of the unsatisfied municipal water demand against demands emerging from other sectors. While this is always an important step in integrated water resource management perspective, it became crucial for water scarce Countries. In fact, since the competition for the resource is high, they are in crucial need to trade values which will help them in satisfying their policies and needs. In this framework, hydro-economic, social equity and environmental constraints need to be satisfied. In the present study, a hydro-economic decision model based on optimization schemes has been developed for water resources allocation, that enable the evaluation of the economic cost of a deficiency in fulfilling the municipal demand. Moreover, the model enables efficient water resources management, satisfying the demand and proposing additional water resources options. The formulated model is designed to maximize the demand satisfaction and minimize water production cost subject to system priorities, preferences and constraints. The demand priorities are defined based on the effect of demand dissatisfaction, while hydrogeological and physical characteristics of the resources are embedded as constraints in the optimization problem. The application to the City of Amman is presented. Amman is the Capital City of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a Country located in the south-eastern area of the Mediterranean, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. The main challenge for Jordan, that threat the development and prosperity of all sectors, is the extreme water scarcity. In fact, Jordan is classified as semi-arid to arid region with limited financial resources and unprecedented population growth. While the easy solution directly goes to the simple but expensive approach to cover the demand, case study results show that the proposed model plays a major role in providing directions to decision makers to orient their policies and strategies in order to achieve sustainability of scarce water resources, satisfaction of the minimum required demand as well as financial sustainability. In addition, results map out national needs and priorities that are crucial in understanding and controlling the complexity of Jordan's water sector, mainly for the city of Amman.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Aymen Mohammed Elsous ◽  
Mahmoud Mohammed Radwan ◽  
Ezat Ahmed Askari ◽  
Ayman Mustafa Abu Mustafa

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