Treated Wastewater Reuse System for the West Bank
Transforming Palestine’s wastewater treatment capabilities to expand agriculture production
- Location: West Bank, Palestine
- Date: 2022
- Client: Palestinian Water Authority, Ministry of Water of Palestine, Ministry of Environment of Palestine, Office of the Quartet
- Project Type: Water re-use planning
A strategy to recycle treated wastewater for growing crops in a water scarce region
The West Bank lacks a sufficient and reliable supply of water to achieve agricultural productivity and food security. The reuse of treated wastewater is considered one of the more promising options for developing water for irrigation. The Palestinian Water Authority, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Environment, in coordination with the Office of the Quartet and UNOP financing, commissioned Hydro Nova to develop a framework for assessing the feasibility of reusing treated wastewater across the West Bank, in the most comprehensive wastewater reuse strategy of its kind in Palestine.
Our detailed feasibility services helped Palestinian government assess reuse options, finding that the most viable option is to transfer wastewater from two plants in Tulkarem and Nablus to irrigate croplands in the Jordan Valley. Our system design produces an additional 6.3 million cubic meters per year (MCM/year), enough to support 1,000 hectares of irrigated cropland, and costing an estimated $63 million to construct and operate.
Services Provided
Evaluation of wastewater reuse options
We develope a multi-criteria scalable methodology for Palestine to evaluate wastewater reuse options in the West Bank
Land suitability surveying
Hydro Nova researchers surveyed the targeted land and soil to determine where treated wastewater could be used to increase agricultural productivity.
Legal and institutional support
Our legal experts performed legal and institutional reviews of the existing frameworks required for the reuse of treated wastewater in the West Bank to succeed.
Re-use system design options
Our engineers conduct a feasibility-level analysis and designed a range of alternative system options to transfer treated wastewater to irrigate over 1,000 hectares of cropland.
