Gaza beach becomes most recreational outlet this summer after sewage cleanup
LONDON: Thousands of families are flocking to Gaza’s beaches this summer as the beach becomes the region’s most prominent recreational outlet. For the first time in years, much of the Gaza Strip’s coastline is clean enough for swimming, thanks to a concerted sewage cleanup effort.
“We did not come for seven years because the water was not safe. Now it looks great… the color is different, more blue. This year it is our second beach day,” Nabila Hania told the Guardian.
“We have a lot of wars and troubles. Kids deserve some fun,” Haniya said.
After 15 years of the Israeli-Egyptian blockade, one of the most pressing issues for the 2.2 million people living in Gaza is access to clean water.
Due to Israeli restrictions on imports and a lack of proper maintenance, sewage treatment plants were overwhelmed years ago. The Guardian reports that about 97% of the water in Gaza’s only aquifer is no longer potable.
For more than a decade, untreated waste has flowed directly into the ocean, causing an environmental disaster and polluting one of the only affordable recreational opportunities in the isolated region.
However, over the past year, Gaza’s three internationally funded sewage treatment plants have been able to accelerate operations, thanks to a more consistent and plentiful supply of electricity.
In October 2021, 180,000 cubic meters of sewage per day was being dumped into the Mediterranean Sea. Today 70% of sewage is being diverted to modern treatment facilities, with the remaining 30% being partially treated. This means that 95 percent of waste is removed before water is returned to the environmental cycle.
The reforms have reduced marine pollution to its lowest level in years, prompting the local water authority to declare that 65 percent of the coastline is now classified as “green” or “yellow” , indicating that swimming is safe.
Kids run in and out of the waves on the beach in Sheikh Izlin, a neighborhood south of Gaza City, begging their parents for camel rides and candy floss. Seven lifeguards monitoring Sheikh Izlin’s beach told the Guardian that this summer is the busiest season they can miss.
Clear, blue waters are a welcome sight in Gaza, where movement is severely restricted. More than half the population is unemployed, and electricity and medical infrastructure are in shambles.
An Israeli ban on the entry of “dual-use items”, such as building materials that can be recycled by Hamas, also poses a constant threat to Gaza’s clean water supply.
“We need to replace spent pumps in sewage treatment and desalination facilities, because otherwise, they will overflow. But I can’t just place an order, I have to get approval and negotiate with the Israelis to bring any parts. By the time I’ve done that, even more damage has been done,” said Omar Shatat, deputy executive director of Gaza’s Coastal Municipalities water utility, for the Guardian.
“We could have rebalanced the water cycle in Gaza in five years if it weren’t for the occupation. Anyway, you can’t say anything sustainable here. I try to guess that in five years, 20 years.” What will be the needs of Gaza in time, but it is impossible.”
Shattat cautioned that the progress made in cleaning up the ocean this year is fragile and could easily be lost: “If electricity supplies become unreliable again, more sewage will be dumped into the ocean. I think the reason things change is because sewage has become such a big issue here that it’s even starting to affect beaches and desalination plants in Israel.