Abstract
We investigated the quality of treated drinking water in Aida Camp and Alazzah Camp, two Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank. Water supply in the two camps is intermittent: Water deliveries are first stored in a centrally located community tank before being pumped through distribution networks to users, who then store the water in rooftop tanks. Between March 2016 and June 2017, we examined water quality within the distribution system in the camps, testing 520 samples in Aida Camp and 198 samples in Alazzah Camp for total coliforms, Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, and residual chlorine. We observed deterioration in water quality in both camps, but the deterioration was more pronounced in Aida Camp where 2.5% of community-tank samples, 5.0% of network samples, and 10% of rooftop-tank samples contained one or more colonies (per 100 mL) of total coliform bacteria. In Alazzah Camp, 3.7% of community-tank samples, 2.5% of network samples, and 5% rooftop-tank samples contained one or more colonies (per 100 mL) of total coliform bacteria. E. coli was detected in two samples from Aida Camp and one sample from Alazzah Camp. In both camps, average residual chlorine concentrations were higher in the community tanks than in rooftop tanks. The main factor influencing water quality deterioration in rooftop tanks in Aida Camp appears to be air temperature. We recommend more systematic water testing in the camps and greater transparency in reporting test results to camp residents.
Highlights
Water consumption by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where water supplies are limited [1], averages 70 L per capita per day, well below the World Health Organization (WHO)minimum standard of 100 lpcd [2]
We observed that drinking water delivered to the two camps was generally of high quality, as indicated by coliform bacteria measurement: In Aida Camp, 2 of 39 samples (5.1%) collected from the community tank over a 14-month period contained bacteria, and in Alazzah Camp, only 1 of 23 samples (4.3%) collected from the community tank over a 16-month period contained bacteria (Table 1)
There appeared to be no change in the quality of water as it moved through the distribution systems of the two camps: 5.0% (10/200) of samples from network pipes in Aida Camp and 2.7% (2/75) of samples from network pipes in Alazzah Camp contained bacteria
Summary
Water consumption by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where water supplies are limited [1], averages 70 L per capita per day (lpcd), well below the World Health Organization (WHO)minimum standard of 100 lpcd [2]. Water consumption by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where water supplies are limited [1], averages 70 L per capita per day (lpcd), well below the World Health Organization (WHO). Water shortages are acute in Palestinian refugee camps where water is supplied intermittently. The rooftop tanks allow users more continuous access to water; the longer the period between water deliveries to the camp, the longer users tend to hold water in reserve in the rooftop tanks. This often leads to water quality deterioration. While problems related to water shortages and intermittent supplies in the West Bank have been documented [3,4,5], less is known about water quality and connections between poor water quality
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