Displaced Palestinian engineer Enas Al-Ghoul was able to create a desalination system that converts salty seawater into drinkable water, in light of its scarcity due to the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
In light of the water crisis that the people of the Gaza Strip are suffering from as a result of Israel targeting water wells, Al-Ghoul, the agricultural engineer displaced to the city of Khan Yunis, did not stand idly by, but rather took the initiative to invent this practical solution to confront this crisis that is raging among the citizens.
solar distiller
The still uses a wooden box closed with glass and leather, known as a solar still. The box contains holes for water to enter and exit, and before exiting, the water passes through a layer of activated charcoal to purify it.
A solar still is a device that uses solar energy to distill water, to produce pure water from polluted or salty water by heating the water using solar energy, which causes the water to evaporate and then the vapor to condense to return to the liquid state in the form of pure water.
The Gaza Strip suffers from a severe shortage of drinking water, with the destructive Israeli war continuing since October 7th. Israel deliberately cuts off water supplies from the occupied territories and destroys wells, tanks and various desalination plants.
Simple tools
Al-Ghoul told the Anadolu Agency correspondent that she was able to make this device using simple tools such as wood, glass and leather, and she succeeded in converting salty seawater into drinkable water.
She added, “Citizens in the Gaza Strip suffer from water scarcity, and we are close to the seashore, so we depend on it and work to purify it from impurities and salinity through a distillation system.”
She added, “There are no other reliable means, and the distillation system may suffice in light of the water crisis that the population is suffering from.”
She pointed out that the occupation bombed water desalination stations during the war, so she headed to manufacture an easy-to-use and light device that can be transported anywhere.
She explained that the fresh water available in the Gaza Strip is expensive compared to what it was before (16 liters cost one US dollar), which makes many people unable to buy it.
water shortage
Citizens in the Gaza Strip suffer from extreme difficulty in obtaining potable water, as they travel long distances to obtain a few liters of it.
Displaced people in different areas of the Strip are rationing their use of drinking water for fear of its interruption and the inability to obtain new quantities.
According to the government media office in Gaza, the number of people displaced within the Strip due to the current war has reached about two million people out of a total population of 2.3 million.
With American support, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, leaving more than 131,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amidst massive destruction and deadly famine.
In contempt of the international community, Tel Aviv continues the war, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution to stop it immediately, and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and to improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.
