Towards strategies for pollution control on the use of wastewater effluent in sustainable agriculture in the Gaza Strip

The agriculture sector is a major consumer of groundwater in the Gaza Strip, where the level of groundwater, the main water resource, is being depleted and its quality is adversely affected. Wastewater reuse is identified to solve the water shortage problem in the Gaza Strip in the National Water Policy. However, treated effluent has been successfully applied in many countries, though it should be subject to many major concerns, which eventually have adverse impacts on health, crops and soil. The key elements of Palestinian draft pollution control strategy have been addressed. Such a strategy should be integrated to mitigate the negative hygienic limitations and optimise crop production to achieve the sustainable agriculture and food security under water scarcity.