Seawater desalination transforming the Gaza Strip

There are no easy conventional solution to Gaza’s chronic water crisis and impending environmental catastrophe. Seawater desalination is one of the key transformative interventions strategically considered to address both these issues. UNICEF, with European Union funding, therefore initiated the implementation of a seawater desalination programme in late 2012. The first phase of the seawater desalination plant producing 6,000 m3/d, is the largest to be completed in Gaza and is to be extended to produce 20,000 m3/d to ultimately serve a population of 250,000 people. Seawater desalination remaining an energy intensive process, focus has been on identifying innovative means of generating and conserving energy to tackle the energy-water nexus, given the limited availability of electricity within Gaza. Advance renewable energy and energy recovery technologies have been incorporated to maximise the plant’s viability. Such transformative technologies is essential to ensure that Gaza remains a liveable place in the years to come.