\n<\/p>\n
Bromberg says even before the war, Israel’s restrictions on what is allowed into Gaza meant the territory’s sewage plants were out of date.<\/p>\n
“One of the reasons why modern sewer stream plants weren’t completed in Gaza was because in order to build and run [them] you needed equipment that the Israeli military has defined as dual use – that could be used by Hamas as a weapon,” he says, giving the example of cement.<\/p>\n
Edo Bar-Zeev, a professor at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at Ben-Gurion University, called what has happened an “unexpected mega event”.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been in the field of sampling ocean water for around 20 years or so and it’s definitely unusual,” he said. “In most cases it comes and goes in a few days, maybe a week… and here it’s held on for a while.”<\/p>\n
The six plants, which generate more than 60% of Israel’s drinking water, were hit by what Lior Gutman, spokesman for Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, called a “huge carpet of microorganisms”.<\/p>\n
Some farmers were affected, although the majority of those who use recycled water for irrigation did not face any shortages. Neither did 99% of households, Gutman said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n