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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| 5 of 6 Israeli Desalinization Plants Offline Due To Algae Bloom |
| 2026-09-10 |
| [MiddleEastEye] Untreated sewage from Gaza may have helped cause a huge algae bloom that shut down five of Israel’s six major desalination plants on the Mediterranean, Israeli news outlet Ynet has reported. Scientists are trying to assess possible environmental fallout from Gaza’s destroyed wastewater infrastructure, the report said. In an alarming development, the algae bloom spread along Israel's Mediterranean coast, disrupting seawater desalination plants that provide much of the country's drinking water, CNN reported, citing Mekorot, Israel's national water company. Desalination provides at least 65 percent of Israel's drinking water, with most plants located on the coast. “An event of this kind has never occurred before in Israel … it was an extremely rare event,” said Lior Gutman, a spokesperson for Mekorot. Five of Israel's six major desalination plants, including Ashkelon, Ashdod, Palmachim, Sorek A, and Sorek B, were temporarily shut down. Israel’s water authority said the water sector was stable as authorities increased supplies from the Sea of Galilee, groundwater wells and reservoirs while restricting some agricultural and public irrigation. But the crisis has exposed the fragility of Israel’s dependence on desalination to major environmental disruptions. 'A PERFECT STORM' Gaza’s wastewater treatment system has been heavily damaged during the war, with some 40,000 cubic metres of untreated wastewater reportedly flowing into the sea each day, figures cited by Ynet and Palestinian authorities said. Sounds like Tijuana, Mexico Algae blooms require warm water and nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, said Avner Gross, head of Ben-Gurion University’s Climate Change Laboratory. He said satellite imagery showed similar algae-filled waters around Egypt’s Nile Delta, where agricultural runoff pours into the Mediterranean. |
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| Posted by: Skidmark 2026-09-10 16:54 |