Water Supply and Sanitation in The Palestinian Territories - Water Use

Water Use

Agriculture accounts for around 70% of total water use in the Palestinian territories, followed by domestic (27%) and industrial uses (3%).

West Bank. In 2009 the World Bank estimated residential water supply based on data from PWA and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. In the West Bank it was estimated to be about 50 liters/capita/day after network losses, with large variations ranging from about 10-15 liters in parts of Hebron to almost 100 in Jericho. According to a 2009 report by Amnesty International, some 180,000-200,000 Palestinians living in rural communities have no access to running water and "the Israeli army often prevents them from even collecting rainwater". In contrast, Israeli settlers have irrigated farms, lush gardens and swimming pools. The 450,000 settlers use as much or more water than the 2.3 million Palestinians. Many Palestinians have to buy water, of often dubious quality, from tanker trucks at very high prices. Water tankers are forced to take long detours to avoid Israeli military checkpoints and roads which are out of bounds to Palestinians, resulting in steep increases in the price of water. According to Amnesty International, the Israeli army also destroys rainwater harvesting cisterns and confiscates water trucks.

Gaza. In the Gaza strip, the amount of water supplied is 152 liters/capita/day, but after taking into account water losses actual water use is estimated to be 76 liter.