Quantification of submarine groundwater discharge in the Gaza strip

Gaza Strip has suffered from seawater intrusion during the past three decades due to low rainfall and high abstraction from the groundwater resource. On a yearly basis, more than 170 million m(3) of groundwater is abstracted, while the long-term average recharge from rainfall is 24.4 million m(3)/year. Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) has never been studied in the Gaza Strip, due to lack of experience in this field, next to the ignorance of this subject due to the seawater intrusion process taking place. Continuous radon measurements were carried out in six sites along the Gaza Strip to quantify the SGD rate. The final result shows SGD to occur in all sampled sites. The range of SGD rates varies from 0.9 to 5.9 cmday(-1). High values of SGD are found in the south (Rafah and Khan Younis governorates). The high values are probably related to the shallow unconfined aquifer, while the lowest values of SGD are found in the middle of Gaza Strip, and they are probably related to the Sabkha formation. In the north of Gaza Strip, SGD values are in the range of 1.0 to 2.0 cmday(-1). Considering that SGD would occur with the measured rates in a strip of 100 m wide along the whole coast line, the results in a quantity of 38 million m(3) of groundwater being discharged yearly to the Mediterranean Sea along Gaza coast. Nutrient samples were taken along Gaza Strip coastline, and they were compared to the onshore wells, 600 m away from the Mediterranean Sea. The results show that SGD has higher NO3- + NO2- than nutrient-poor seawater, and that it is close to the onshore results from the wells. This confirms that the source of SGD is groundwater, and not shallow seawater circulation. In a coastal strip of 100 m wide along the Gaza coast, a yearly discharge of over 400 tons of nitrate and 250 tons of ammonium occurs from groundwater to the Mediterranean Sea

Water desalination in the Gaza Strip: Al Salam RO brackish water desalination plant case study

Ongoing deterioration of the water supply of the Gaza strip poses a difficult challenge for water planners and sustainable management of the coastal aquifer. The aquifer is currently overexploited, with total pumping exceeding total recharge. In addition, anthropogenic sources of pollution threaten the water supplies in major urban centres. Many water quality parameters presently exceed World Health Organisation (WHO) drinking water standards. The major documented water quality problems are elevated chloride (salinity) and nitrate concentrations in the aquifer. Up to 95 per cent of Gaza’s population source their drinking water from 154 public or private producers, whose production and supply chain result in the potential contamination of up to 68% of drinking water supplies, exposing nearly 60% of the population to severe public health risks. This paper presents the details of the implementation of a medium scale brackish water desalination plant constructed in eastern Rafah – Gaza by Oxfam and its partner the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility

Evolution of runoff and groundwater recharge in the Gaza Strip over the last four decades

Gaza Strip is experiencing a severe water crisis caused mainly by overexploitation of the groundwater source. Rainfall is the only source of freshwater replenishment for the Gaza coastal aquifer. Groundwater level has dropped to more than 10m below mean sea level as a result of aquifer exploitation and imbalance between recharge and abstraction in the past decades, which exposes the groundwater to seawater intrusion. As the only fresh water source recharging the aquifer is from rainfall, it is essential to estimate the annual recharge volume from rainfall. This paper is focusing on recharge estimation based on historical daily rainfall data for the past 41years (1973-2014). An estimation of surface runoff was made using soil conservation services curve number method. An estimation of groundwater recharge has been calculated using two different methods: Thornthwaite and Mather soil moisture balance approach and chloride mass balance. Four land use maps and data have been used for the entire calculation period, three of them based on actual surveys carried out in 1994, 2004 and 2010, while the fourth map was developed based on the population expansion trend to cover the period before 1993. It was found that the proportion of built-up area has expanded from 8.25% in 1982 to 25.23% in 2010, while the sand dune area has shrunk from 31.46% in 1982 to 8.64% in 2010. Runoff has doubled from 6.9million m(3) in 1982 to 13.7million m(3) in 2010, while groundwater recharge was reduced from 24.4million m(3) in 1982 to 18.1million m(3) in 2010

Quantification of Recharge and Runoff from Rainfall Using New GIS Tool: Example of the Gaza Strip Aquifer

The Gaza Strip forms a transition zone between the semi-humid coastal zone in the north, the semi-arid zone in the east, and the Sinai desert in the south. Groundwater is the only water source for 1.94 million inhabitants, where the only fresh replenishment water for the aquifer comes from rainfall. This study focuses on testing a newly developed GIS tool to estimate the spatial and temporal distribution of runoff and recharge from rainfall. The estimation of surface runoff was made using the Soil Conservation Services Curve Number Method, while groundwater recharge was estimated using Thornthwaite and Mather’s Soil Moisture Balance approach. The new tool was applied to the Gaza aquifer for the year 1935 and for the period from 1973 to 2016. A comparison was made between the results obtained with the developed GIS tool and the frequently used Thiessen polygon method for rainfall distribution. Runoff and recharge were estimated for the year 1935 (prior to development) to compare with the current developed conditions. It was found that the built-up and sand dune areas stand in an inverse relationship, where the former is replacing the latter (built-up area expanded from 30.1 km2 in 1982 to 92.1 km2 in 2010). Recharge takes place in the sand dune area, whereas runoff increases in the built-up area. Due to development, runoff almost tripled from 9 million m3 in 1982 to 22.9 million m3 in 2010, while groundwater recharge was reduced from 27.3 million m3 in 1982 to 23 million m3 in 2010, even though the rainfall increased between 1982 and 2010 by 11%. Comparison between the newly developed GIS tool and the Thiessen polygon-based estimation shows that the former leads to higher values of runoff and recharge for dry years

Human Milk: Its Components and Their Immunobiologic Functions

Whereas a neonate is born is sterile, immediate exposure to its mother\u27s mucosal surfaces allows it to acquire microflora, which plays an important role in defense against potential pathogens. This initial stimulus helps the immature immune system of the newborn to develop the capacity to respond with specific immunologic tolerance while avoiding the development of allergic and autoimmune disease. Breast-feeding provides nutritional and developmental, along with anti-infectious, advantages to the infant. The significant protection conferred by breast-feeding against varied infections such as acute and prolonged diarrhea, neonatal septicemia, respiratory tract infections, acute and recurrent otitis media, and urinary tract infections is observed worldwide. Human breast milk contains numerous components, including antibodies, cytokines, hormones, enzymes, and major proteins with multiple activities (microbicidal, tumoricidal, anti-inflammatory, autoimmune, etc.). Breast-feeding can strikingly reduce infant mortality, as well as the fertility of the breast-feeding mother. In this manner, breast-feeding provides significant benefits for lactating mothers and their offspring, in addition to society as a whole. \ua9 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Human Milk: Its Components and Their Immunobiologic Functions

Whereas a neonate is born is sterile, immediate exposure to its mother\u27s mucosal surfaces allows it to acquire microflora, which plays an important role in defense against potential pathogens. This initial stimulus helps the immature immune system of the newborn to develop the capacity to respond with specific immunologic tolerance while avoiding the development of allergic and autoimmune disease. Breast-feeding provides nutritional and developmental, along with anti-infectious, advantages to the infant. The significant protection conferred by breast-feeding against varied infections such as acute and prolonged diarrhea, neonatal septicemia, respiratory tract infections, acute and recurrent otitis media, and urinary tract infections is observed worldwide. Human breast milk contains numerous components, including antibodies, cytokines, hormones, enzymes, and major proteins with multiple activities (microbicidal, tumoricidal, anti-inflammatory, autoimmune, etc.). Breast-feeding can strikingly reduce infant mortality, as well as the fertility of the breast-feeding mother. In this manner, breast-feeding provides significant benefits for lactating mothers and their offspring, in addition to society as a whole. \ua9 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved