Waste Water and Marine environment in the Gaza strip. Introduction

Transcription

1 Waste Water and Marine environment in the Gaza strip By Dr. Abed El Fattah Nazmi Abed Rabu Professor assistant in environmental sciences, Biology department, G.I.U Introduction Residence of Gaza considers the surrounding marine environment as the only outlet available for recreation. The beaches of Gaza, during the summer time, are garnished with a large number of cafés that provide services for citizens during their leisure time. Owners of horses, Camels and small boats take advantage of the season and do some business entertaining the crowds, especially children. Despite of this happy scene, there are other scenes that media and educated pens continuously describe; they keep on saying that the marine environment in the Gaza Strip is polluted with waste water, which makes a great part of the population refrain from spending their summer days on the beach. The current condition of the marine environment represents a tough challenge for citizens and other concerned parties in the Gaza Strip, therefore I decided, in this report, to tackle the issue of marine environment pollution by waste water from a variety of aspects. Citizens swimming in areas polluted with waste water Definition and characteristics of waste water Waste water = sewage water is known as the quantities of water used by the human population, whether for domestic or industrial purposes. It contains both dissolved and solid contaminants. It is generally collected in sewers that all together compose the sewage system. The qualities of waste water vary from one place to another depending on the population conditions, the type of industry, the land use and the levels of ground water; it depends also on the extent of separation between waste water and storm water. ١

2 Waste water is a major cause of polluting the Gaza Strip Sea Domestic waste water contains the domestic waste coming from kitchens, bathrooms, washing machines or any other waste material dumped by human beings intentionally or unintentionally in the sewage system. Physically waste water has gray color and offensive odor; it contains solid substance that reaches 0.1% (about 30% in a solid form and 70% dissolved). Chemically, waste water contains organic compounds (carbohydrates, proteins, fats, oils and pesticides etc) and none organic compounds (heavy minerals, nitrogen, phosphorous, sulfur and toxicants etc), it also contains a variety of gazes, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, methane). Biologically, waste water contains micro organisms including monocle organs, moss and bacteria, in addition to many other pathogenic organisms that come from an infected human source. The presence of the Coliform group of organs in the waste water proves the presence of pathogenic organisms but not necessarily all of them. Three sewage water treatment plants in the Gaza Strip Gaza Strip produces more than 30 million cubic meters of waste water every year. The level of Biological Oxygen Demand for the waste water may reach 600 ml g/liter in Gaza, whereas it reaches 200 to 300 ml g/liter in the developed country, which means an increase in the organic content and salinity in the waste water produced in the Gaza Strip. This is due to the Palestinian citizens' share of fresh water, which ranges from 70 to 90 liters per day. It is reported also that more than 60% of Gaza Strip population receive sewage water services through sewage networks. Rafah sewage treatment plant Gaza sewage treatment plant. There are three sewage treatment plants in the Gaza Strip, one in Beit Lahia in the north, the second is Sheikh Ejleen in Gaza city and the third is in Rafah. Some other plants are under constructions, they will be more efficient. The present ones receive much larger quantities than their capacity. Gaza and Rafah plants discharge their raw or partially treated waste water directly into the sea,which makes the marine ٢

3 environment pollution problem in Gaza severer and has its negative impact on its biological contents and ultimately the public health. Beit Lahia station is not connected to the sea shore; therefore its effluent semi treated water flows into 40 hectare plus nearby lake. It stands for the hugest environmental and health disaster in the Gaza Strip It is also considered the worst source of environment and internal water pollution for the surrounding area. More than 14 water wells have become out of operation due to the environmental pollution caused by their proximity from Beit Lahia station. A project to build a sewage pipe line to convey the semi treated waste water from Beit Lahia Station to the sea was suggested 10 years ago. However, the project has never seen the light due to the Israeli stubborn objection. Their excuse is "the project will pollute the sea water therefore the north bound current will cause damage to the Israeli marine environment adjacent to the Gaza strip. The sewage basins in Khan Younis Governorate an expected hazard to the marine environment Sewage basins in Al Mawasi area Waste water collection basins for the sewage water produced in Khan Younis Governorate were lately constructed in the liberated areas nearby Al Mawasi. It is believed that a sewage water pipe line will be constructed to convey the waste water collected in those basins directly in to the marine environment. Numerous complains have been filed by citizens who live in Al Mawasi area claiming that such basins cause serious hazards to the environment and the public health, such as wide spread offensive odors, harmful pests and wide spread of disease transmitting insects like mosquitoes. It is worthy of knowing that Al Mawasi area stretches along the sea shore of Gaza Strip for about 14 Km, at the width of 1 km. wide starting south of Deir Al Balah to south of Rafah. It is nearly a green area with a very fertile soil; therefore it is considered the food basket of Gaza Strip and a major source of fruits and vegetables. It is known that the marine environment along Al Mawasi is considered the cleanest and the safest in the Gaza strip, in terms of swimming and recreation. It is feared therefore that the future waste water discharge from the basins of Al Mawasi in to the sea will cause serious deterioration in the quality of the marine life in this area. There is a great need for intervention by the specialized and official stake holders in order to prevent the total destruction of the marine environment in the entire Gaza Strip. ٣

4 80% of the wastewater produced in the Gaza Strip is discharged raw into the sea Sewage water treatment plants in Gaza Strip depend on the secondary treatment, sometimes the process is limited to the primary treatment. Due to the continuous population increase and so the quantities of produced waste water and the failure of treatment plants, huge quantities of raw or semi treated waste water is discharged into the marine environment, the fact that doubles the negative impact of waste water on environment and public health. Therefore, waste water is considered the main source of polluting Gaza Shore because of the many points of sewage water discharge along the costal line. Discharging 80% of the produced waste water, untreated in the sea is very alarming hazard imposed by such reality on the marine environment, marine life, public health and development of the tourism sector. Discharging raw sewage water directly into the sea Causes and dangerous consequences of polluting the sea of Gaza Direct causes for polluting certain sites of the marine environment are very visible, and it is totally due to the huge quantities of the waste water discharged into the sea. One can identify these sites bare eyed by observing the growing moss in them. The pollution is also indicated by the bad odor they release. Some of the practices of some citizens cannot be ignored neither, such as bathing the domestic animals in the sea, bathing horses, donkeys. Dogs and goats are very common practices that one often can see when you go to the beach. Bathing animals is another source of pollution that impacts the marine biology and creates a public health hazard. The Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip, the resulting frequent power supply interruption, the lack of the adequate quantities of the necessary fuel to operate the sewage treatment plants and the lack of the spare parts needed to maintain such plants have added to the problem a great deal and have negatively impacted the quality of the treated sewage water. Bumping large quantities of raw sewage water in the marine environment has become a common daily practice due to the Israeli imposed siege. Pollution of marine environment is caused also by bathing animals ٤

5 Hazardous sites along the shore where sewage water is discharged Gaza valley which collects the sewage water from the neighboring residential clusters is considered the most out standing point of discharging sewage water in the sea of Gaza. It is also considered a hazard to the beach visitors and as well as to marine life, their biological diversity and public health. The flows of Gaza valley with all the chemical contaminants that come from the Israeli territory causes sever pollution and therefore destruction to the marine environment and every habitat it contains. Obviously swimming near the discharge point of Gaza valley is extremely hazardous to general health. The points of discharging sewer w located near Al Shate' Camp and the fishermen port in the city of Gaza and the location of the previous settlement Netsareem are viewed as the most hazardous due to the quantity and the quality of the waste water they release. Gaza valley one of the most hazardous discharge points in the sea of Gaza &The point of discharging sewage water near the fishermen's port in Gaza city Do we consider the marine environment in Gaza polluted with waste water? Polluted marine environment in Gaza is not a new topic; the sewage water discharging points in the sea of Gaza was and still is wide spread till today. Some scientific reports stated that thousand cubic meters of waste water have been discharged on the shore of Gaza every day for years. The Authority of Environment Quality stated in one of its reports that 12.5% of the cost line of Gaza "about 42kms" is considered polluted with microcosms and pathogenic organisms known to specialists. These points represent the most seriously polluted spots due to discharging waste water in them, they are mostly located between Al Shate' Camp and the Gaza Valley; the remainder,which is the greater part of the beach is considered safe where citizens can swim. The point of discharging raw sewage water from Rafah Governorate ٥

6 Most of the waste water produced in the Gaza Strip, more that 30 million cubic meters every year; raw or partially treated, is discharged in the sea, which puts a heavy strain on, and poses a threat to the entire Gaza marine environment as well as the Gaza population. Many reports and studies were conducted in Gaza during the past years. They all indicated that the sea water and the beach sand located close the waste water discharge points are polluted with microbiological contaminants including some hazardous strains of bacteria that threatens seriously the well being of citizens who find the beach as the only outlet for them. If this was the proven case prior to the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip, think about how much worse it is now considering all the additional quantities of raw sewage water that is being released into the marine environment during the Israeli siege time. Marine pollution is a serious health hazard Swimming in polluted water has its negative impacts on human health in various ways depending on the type of infection and the person's general health condition. Specialist physicians state that polluting sea water can cause the spread of many diseases, like skin infections, eye infections and other forms of serious infections like Meningitis. It is necessary to mention also that consuming sea food that has been fished from the fishermen's port and some other places that receive considerable quantities of raw sewage water, pause a serious threat to humans health, because marine environment contaminants can be transferred through the marine food chain and accumulate in the systems of the fish and other consumed marine creatures during the course of time. The marine environment has a share of the pollution caused by waste water The environmental damage caused by waste water pollution is represented in destroying the normal habitat of fish and other marine creatures. It endangers the diversity of marine life. The increase of solid contaminants and sea weeds resulting from the plentiful mineral nutrients available in the waste water, lead to accumulation of toxicant substances in the fish and other marine creatures that may be consumed by humans and cause serious health problems. In addition, pollution destroys also the areas of swimming and recreation as a result of the offensive odors and the destruction of the beach landscape. It changes the composition and order of the food chain in the marine environment. The worst of all is the impact on marine life resulted by the lack of oxygen in the sea water as a result of exhausting the aerobic decomposers, which lead to the migration of fish from the location that lacks for oxygen, in addition to the resulted eutrophication, which means the concentration of nutrients that cause an increase of sea weeds' growth and ultimately harms marine life and causes rapid bacteria reproduction. It Changes the qualitative composition of the species and muddles the waters, which impact marine life negatively. Citizens and specialized stakeholders have a role to play in reducing the impact of the current situation. ٦

7 Official organizations must pay more attention to the marine environment To reduce the impact of marine environment pollution, organizations concerned with environment and public health must intensify the activities that target convincing citizens to refrain from visiting the beaches close to the points of discharging waste water. Generally they can be identified by their changing color as a result of the increasing sea weed growth and their bad odor. Citizens must follow the instructions of the health department, environmentalists and municipal authorities in order to make the summer marine recreational activity on the beaches of Gaza safer for citizens. They must avoid the beaches that have warning signs prohibiting swimming. Related specialized parties must pay the adequate attention to rehabilitating, maintaining and developing waste water treatment plants in the Gaza Strip, and recycle water for the purposes of agriculture, feeding the ground water basins, reducing the salinity of the ground water, also reduce the ratio of sea water infiltration into the ground water basins. ٧