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In addition, conditions are exacerbated by an acute fuel and electricity shortage, vital to run waste treatment cycles properly. As a result, about 20,000 cubic meters of raw sewage are dumped daily into the sea, according to Monther Shoblak, Director General of the Coastal Municipality Water Utility, and in some areas it's up to four times that much - a shocking, completely avoidable situation.
Gaza's once pristine shores are polluted, the grave implications clear - "the Gaza Strip is, quite literally, being poisoned," affecting about 90% of its coastal aquifer, the essential source for residents. Yet it's hazardous and undrinkable, given its high nitrate and chloride levels - six to seven times higher than World Health Organization's (WHO) safe levels.
As director of Gaza's water, Monther's job is challenging, forcing him to improvise to make due, managing wastewater created by 1.5 million trapped people, 80% of them in refugee camps, living cramped in the world's largest open-air prison, out of sight and mind to those outside it, except activists, friends, and supporters who care. Plagued also by inadequate infrastructure, creating hazards unimaginable in the West.
Monther compares Gaza's facilities to an old car still in use despite lack of spare parts needed for upkeep. Eventually falling into disrepair, it pollutes heavily, relevant for Gaza where even adulterated gasoline is the normal input for cars.
Compounding things further, Gaza's population is growing rapidly (about 3.6% annually), producing greater amounts of waste, current facilities only able to handle about 32,000 cubic meters a day, about half its needed capacity. As a result, the overage gets dumped, entirely or mostly untreated, much of it washing back onshore, polluting beaches, creating hazardous swimming conditions, and poisoning drinking water.
In northern Gaza's Beit Lahia, deterioration is especially severe, one of its three facilities receiving over 25,000 cubic meters daily, double its operating capacity. Worse still, the facility has no access to the sea, so wastewater flows directly into the surrounding area, creating a 450 dunum sewage lake, untenable contamination, exacerbated in March 2007 when its embankment broke, killing five people by toxic flooding.
High nitrate levels are especially hazardous, Monther calling them "a silent killer"- colorless, odorless and tasteless, its continued intake reducing oxygen to vital tissues like the brain. Children and infants are greatly at risk, their developing organs unable to cope. Severe damage and at times death the result.
The longer-term consequences are worrisome, Sara Roy saying:
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