Salinity of Drinking Water and its Association with Renal Failure in Gaza Strip, Palestine

Gaza aquifer is the only natural water source for domestic, agricultural, and industrial purposes in Gaza Strip with a population of about 1.7 million. Current rates of the aquifer abstraction are unsustainable and deterioration of groundwater quality is documented in many parts of the Gaza Strip. The overall aim of this study was to determine salinity of drinking water and its association with renal failure in the southern part in Gaza Strip. Another aim was to explore the relationship between renal failure and socio-economic demographic variables. Descriptive, analytic design was used with survey samples from renal failure patients. A face to face questionnaire for renal failure patients was developed. The sample size for patients was 194subjects, with response rate of 70%. This rate was proportional with respect to its size. Reliability was approved by Cronbach alpha test, and validity was approved by content and face validity method. Analysis of the four quantitative extracted domains that reflected subjectsperception for drinking water salinity level in their localities. All water chemical tests of thesouthern municipal domestic wells have been reviewed since 1987. The tests were fluoride, chloride, nitrate, TDS, and sodium levels in all groundwater wells, which reveal a general trend of increasing from north to south in the southern part. The results show that only 8% of the municipal wells meet the WHO drinking standards in chloride level. Chloride, nitrate, TDS, fluoride and sodium concentration exceed 2-9 times the WHO standards in 92% of the southern wells. The study findings show that there was no association between renal failure prevalence and chloride level, sodium level, TDS level and nitrate level and showed only association with fluoride level, with which there was strong and positive association. There is an urgent need to modify the mixing process according to fluoride level, and initiate public information and awareness programs.