RAMALLAH, July 30, 2015 (WAFA) – In its newly released annual household environmental survey, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said the household sector in Palestine consumed about 16.323 million cubic meters of water per month (MCM/month) during the year 2015.

It said while an average of 10.460 MCM was consumed on monthly basis in the West Bank, some 5.863 MCM was consumed every month in the Gaza Strip during the year 2015. 

The monthly average household consumption of water in Palestine was 18.7 cubic meters (M³); 18.3 M³ in the West Bank and 19.7 M³ in Gaza Strip.

With regard to water networks, PCBS said the percentage of households living in a housing units connected to a water network was 93.3% in 2015 compared to 96.4% in 2013. 

Meanwhile, data indicated that 53.9% of households in Palestine used wastewater networks to dispose of their wastewater in 2015.

As far as solid waste collection is concerned, PCBS said while local authorities collected solid waste for 78.8% of households in Palestine, UNRWA collected 9.4% of solid waste, and for 0.3% of households a special contractor collected the solid waste during the same year.

The average daily generation of household waste in Palestine in 2015 was estimated at 2.9 kg; around 3.2 kg in the West Bank and 2.4 kg in Gaza Strip. The overall quantity of solid waste generated daily was about 2,551.0 tons in 2015.

The following charts shows the quantity of solid waste generated daily and average daily household generation of solid waste in Palestine by region in 2015.

In the meantime, around 19.8% of households in Palestine were exposed to noise very often and 14.8% of households were exposed to smells very often during 2015.

PCBS said it conducted the Household Environmental Survey for 2015 during the period March 24 to May 5 2015.

M.N/M.H