Disruption in Israel's desalination facilities has fueled serious concerns about the water security of the country. A massive bloom of microalgae in the Mediterranean Sea, which reached a length of 100 kilometers and a width of 7 kilometers at its peak, has blocked the filters of five out of six main desalination plants.
Critical Situation of Desalination Facilities
These facilities have now been reactivated, although they are operating at only 50% capacity. Microalgae remain in the water after nearly three weeks, raising concerns that such an event could happen again. Experts believe that the source of these microalgae is the Nile Delta, and a northward current along the eastern Mediterranean shores has brought them to Gaza and Israel.
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Gideon Bromberg from the environmental group "EcoPeace Middle East" stated that sewage is a source of nutrients, and abundant nutrients lead to rapid algae growth. He said, "Israel's restrictions on the entry of goods and equipment into Gaza have led to the deterioration of the wastewater treatment facilities in the region."
Impact of War on Water Resources
Edu Bar Ze'ev, a professor at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at Ben-Gurion University, described the occurrence of this phenomenon as "a massive and unexpected event" and emphasized that this situation has been unprecedented in the past two decades. Liav Gutman, a spokesperson for Israel's national water company "Mekorot," also pointed out that Israel's desalination facilities, which supply more than 60% of the country's drinking water, have been severely affected by microorganisms.
While most households have not faced water shortages, the daily lives of people in Gaza have been severely impacted by Israeli bombings, with 90% of the water and sanitation infrastructure in the Gaza Strip destroyed. People in Gaza are facing serious challenges in securing safe water.
Israel has become a global leader in desalination facilities, but the combination of climate change and population growth has increased the country's dependence on these facilities. This event has raised serious concerns among experts about how a phenomenon like microalgae can paralyze Israel's desalination plants.
Bromberg noted: "This is a wake-up call for water sector activists and all of us in the Middle East, where water desalination has been a significant development in achieving a level of water security."
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