water pollution in lebanon essay

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Antibiotics (Basel)

Nationwide Assessment of Water Quality in Rivers across Lebanon by Quantifying Fecal Indicators Densities and Profiling Antibiotic Resistance of Escherichia coli

Lea a. dagher.

1 Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut (AUB), Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon; ude.bua.liam@71dal (L.A.D.); bl.ude.bua@751ks (S.K.)

Jouman Hassan

2 Center for Food Safety, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia, 1109 Experiment Street, Griffin, GA 30223, USA; [email protected]

Samer Kharroubi

Hadi jaafar.

3 Department of Agriculture, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut (AUB), Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon; bl.ude.bua@10jh

Issmat I. Kassem

Associated data.

All the relevant data have been included in this study. We did not generate data that required public.

The use of contaminated water has been associated with severe disease outbreaks. Due to widespread pollution with untreated sewage, concerns have been raised over water quality in Lebanon, a country with well-documented challenges in infrastructure. Here, we evaluated the water quality of major rivers in Lebanon by quantifying the densities of fecal indicator bacteria (fecal coliforms and Escherichia coli ). Additionally, we assessed the dissemination of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in river water. Composite water samples ( n = 132) were collected from fourteen rivers, and 378 E. coli were isolated and analyzed. Fecal coliforms and E. coli were detected in 96.29% and 95.5% of the samples, respectively. Additionally, 73.48–61.3% and 31.81% of the samples exceeded the microbiological acceptability standards for irrigation and the fecal coliform limit for recreational activities, respectively. The E. coli exhibited resistance to ampicillin (40% of isolates), amoxicillin + clavulanic acid (42%), cefepime (4%), cefotaxime (14%), cefalexin (46%), cefixime (17%), doripenem (0.3%), imipenem (0.5%), gentamicin (6%), kanamycin (9%), streptomycin (35%), tetracycline (35%), ciprofloxacin (10%), norfloxacin (7%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (32%), and chloramphenicol (13%). Notably, 45.8% of the isolates were classified as multidrug resistant (MDR). Our results highlight the need to urgently address fecal pollution and the dissemination of antibiotic resistance in Lebanese rivers.

1. Introduction

Natural water resources such as rivers are vital assets with a substantial impact on human health, food production, and the economy. The increase in the human population has intensified demand on water resources for both critical needs, such as agriculture and sanitation, and recreation. Furthermore, threats like pollution and climate change have contributed to water scarcity and the deterioration of water quality, increasing further the pressure on vital water resources and their sustainability worldwide [ 1 , 2 , 3 ].

The association of water pollution with adverse impacts on human health and the contamination of food is well documented [ 4 ]. While around 62% of irrigated lands worldwide primarily rely on surface waters [ 5 ], contaminated waters have resulted in outbreaks of disease with considerable incidences of morbidity and mortality, especially in children and other vulnerable populations [ 2 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. This is not surprising because polluted water is known to harbor a variety of microbial pathogens, including bacteria, viruses and parasites, and chemical contaminants. For example, in the United States of America (US) recently, exposure to contaminated recreational water has resulted in outbreaks caused by Shigella (California), norovirus (Maine), or Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (Minnesota) [ 9 , 10 ]. Furthermore, irrigation water has been potentially linked to the contamination of leafy greens, which was associated with several foodborne disease outbreaks in the US caused by E. coli O157:H7 and E. coli O145 [ 11 ]. Therefore, pollution is a serious unfolding problem that threatens water quality and requires immediate attention.

An emerging and significant risk associated with water pollution is the emergence and/or dissemination of antibiotic-resistant (ABR) bacterial pathogens that can cause life-threatening and difficult-to-treat infections [ 12 , 13 ]. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes antimicrobial resistance as one of the most urgent public health threats that is associated with widespread suffering and economic losses. Similarly, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has designated antimicrobial resistance as one of the top six emerging environmental issues [ 14 ]. Surface waters are readily contaminated with antibiotics and resistant bacteria from a variety of sources and activities [ 13 , 15 , 16 ] such as the direct disposal of untreated wastewater into water resources, including rivers, or via runoff from agricultural fields amended with manure [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Wastewater is considered a reservoir of ABR bacteria and can also contain excreted and/or discarded antibiotics used for medical and/or agricultural purposes [ 20 ]. Notably, 30–90% of some antibiotics can be excreted unmetabolized from humans and animals after consumption [ 21 , 22 ]. These antibiotics will then exert a pressure on bacterial communities driving the selection, evolution, emergence, and/or persistence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which are then disseminated by water to humans and animals [ 21 , 22 ].

Water pollution and associated problems, including the spread of ABR, are exacerbated in developing countries due to several factors that include debilitated infrastructure, the lack of proper sewage and waste disposal systems, and weak water quality surveillance programs [ 23 ]. Notably, poor water quality and sanitation have been linked to 80% of all diseases, while ~1.8 million people die yearly due to waterborne diseases in developing countries [ 24 ]. The latter has an indelible impact on fragile socioeconomic development, increasing the cycle of poverty and suffering in these countries [ 24 , 25 ]. The World Bank estimates that water pollution can claim approximately a third of economic growth in some countries [ 26 ]. Consequently, there is a paramount need to monitor water quality and devise interventions and recommendations to limit the multi-pronged impacts associated with the pollution of water resources, especially in developing countries with substantial deficiencies in resources and infrastructure.

Lebanon is a developing Mediterranean country with numerous challenges that include a weak infrastructure, severe economic crisis, political unrest, and widespread pollution among others. In comparison to other countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Lebanon is considered to be relatively water rich [ 19 , 27 , 28 ]. However, water in Lebanon have been suffering from chronic mismanagement, partially due to the absence of a national policy for integrated water resources management, which prevents the country from exploiting this valuable resource [ 28 ]. Furthermore, water in Lebanon has been under an increasing pollution threat, mainly due to (1) population growth, including an influx of ~1.5 million refugees (~1 refugee per 4 nationals) since 2011, (2) wastewater and solid waste mismanagement, and (3) absence of monitoring and surveillance programs [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Notably, in 2016, it was reported that only 58.54% of buildings in Lebanon were connected to a sewer network, while the rest (41.46%) use cesspools, septic tanks, or directly dispose untreated sewage into aquatic environments such as rivers and streams. It was also estimated that only 11.65% and 6.87% of the population in the North of Lebanon and Beirut (capital of Lebanon) and Mount Lebanon were connected to serviceable sewage networks, respectively [ 33 , 34 ]. Additionally, sewage water is not properly treated, because there is insufficient number of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Lebanon, while available WWTPs provide preliminary treatment, operate with limited capacity and budget, or lack a sewage network, rendering the plants largely nonoperational [ 33 , 34 , 35 ]. As a result, 92% of the collected wastewater are disposed of without any prior treatment into aquatic environments [ 33 ]. The aforementioned pollution strongly suggests that surface water might be widely contaminated and constitutes a reservoir that disseminates contaminants such as antibiotic resistant pathogens to other vital resources, including the food chain. Recently, multiple reports have highlighted a rise in antibiotic resistance in Lebanon [ 30 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ] due to the abuse and misuse of antibiotics in humans and agriculture [ 43 ]. This problem appears to be widespread, with multidrug and extensively drug-resistant bacteria detected in clinical settings [ 43 , 44 , 45 ], farmed animals [ 36 , 38 , 46 , 47 , 48 ], and the environment [ 30 , 37 , 39 , 40 ]. However, studies on the occurrence of ABR in polluted surface waters, especially rivers, are sparse and limited in Lebanon [ 19 , 27 , 49 ].

Lebanon depends on water for agriculture (60% of water withdrawal) and municipal (29%) and industrial use (11%) [ 50 ]. Furthermore, it was estimated that 45% of the irrigated lands in Lebanon rely on surface water as a primary source [ 3 ]. Consequently, water pollution in Lebanon poses a significant risk to public health and the economy. Here, we assessed the water quality and occurrence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in all major rivers ( n = 14) across Lebanon. For this purpose, we quantified indicators of fecal pollution, fecal coliforms, and E. coli [ 51 , 52 , 53 ], from samples collected from upstream, midstream, and downstream of each river. This is important because high densities of fecal indicators have been associated with the occurrence of pathogenic microorganisms such as Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 that have serious impact on human health [ 51 ]. Furthermore, antibiotic resistance was evaluated using E. coli isolated from the water because this bacterium has also been used as an indicator for monitoring the emergence and proliferation of resistance in bacterial communities [ 54 , 55 , 56 ]. To our knowledge, this is the first nationwide study that assessed water quality and antibiotic resistance across all rivers in Lebanon.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. collection of water samples from rivers across lebanon.

Freshwater samples were collected from 14 major perennial rivers across Lebanon (May–July 2019). Two of these rivers, the Assi and Hasbani, are transboundary. Each river was divided into three sampling sites, upstream (U), midstream (M), and downstream (D), that were ~7–42 km apart depending on the length of the river and accessibility of the location. For the Litani river, which is the longest (>165 km) and largest river in Lebanon, three midstream (M) locations were included in the sampling. Composite samples were aseptically collected in triplicates from each sampling site by submerging a sterile 1 Liter Nalgene ® water bottle, 20–30 cm underwater without disrupting the sediment as recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [ 40 , 57 ]. A total of one-hundred and thirty-two ( n = 132) freshwater samples from 44 locations ( Table 1 ) were transported to the laboratory in coolers (2–5 °C) and processed within 12–16 h of collection.

Sampling locations across the major rivers in Lebanon, upstream (U), midstream (M), and downstream (D). Sample identifiers (ID) are included for each sampling location. For example, Wak, Hed, and Ari represent Wadi Khaled, Hekr el Dahri, and Arida, which are upstream, midstream, and downstream of the Kabir river, respectively. Major rivers are listed in order from the North to the South of Lebanon. * Inaccessible: the location was across the Lebanese borders and could not be sampled.

2.2. Quantification of Fecal Coliforms and E. coli Densities

To determine the number of colony forming units (CFU) of fecal coliforms and E. coli , the water samples were filtered (100 mL and 500 mL) through a 0.22-µm Millipore ® membranes (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA). The membranes were transferred onto RAPID’ E. coli 2 agar plates (BioRad, Hercules, CA, USA) that were incubated at 44 °C for 18–24 h under aerobic conditions [ 37 , 58 ]. Typical CFUs of fecal coliforms (blue) and E. coli (violet to pink) colonies were counted and reported as CFU/100 mL water. The microbiological quality of the samples was determined by comparing the fecal indicator loads to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) standards for recreational water (permissible limit of fecal coliforms; 800 CFU/100 mL) [ 51 ] and the SEQ-EAU-2003 standard for irrigation (permissible limit of thermo-tolerant coliforms; 100 CFU/100 mL) [ 59 ].

To facilitate comparison between fecal coliforms and E. coli counts, bacterial densities were averaged from the triplicates of each sampling location, and the data were reported as average counts (CFU/100 mL) with standard error. The student t-test was then used to compare the average counts of E. coli and fecal coliforms at each location. A p -value < 0.05 was used to identify statistically significant differences.

2.3. Assessment of the Antibiotic Resistance Phenotypes of the E. coli Isolates

Antibiotic resistance profiles of the E. coli isolated from water were determined using the disk diffusion assay [ 60 ]. A total of 378 E. coli isolates (3 colonies per sample) were purified. Random colonies ( n = 60) were selected and their identity further confirmed using species-specific PCR analysis as described elsewhere [ 30 , 37 ]. All the E. coli ( n = 378) were suspended in cation-adjusted Muller–Hinton (MH) broth (Oxiod, Hampshire, UK) and the turbidity was adjusted using a 0.5 McFarland standard and a spectrophotometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) [ 39 , 58 ]. The bacterial suspensions (100 µL) were spread onto MH agar plates (Oxiod, Hampshire, UK) and commercially available antibiotic discs were added to the plates, which were then incubated at 37 °C for 18–24 h. The tested antibiotic discs ( n = 17) belonged to 9 different antibiotics classes, including 1, penicillins: ampicillin (AMP; 10 µg), 2, beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations: amoxicillin + clavulanic acid (AMC; 20 µg/10 µg), 3, cephalosporins: cefixime (CFM; 5 µg), cephalexin (LEX; 30 µg), cefotaxime (CTX; 30 µg), and cefepime (FEP; 30 µg); 4, carbapenems: doripenem (DOR; 10 µg), meropenem (MEM; 10 µg), and imipenem (IPM; 10 µg); 5, aminoglycosides: gentamicin (GEN; 10 µg), kanamycin (KAN; 30 µg), and streptomycin (STR; 10 µg); 6, tetracyclines: tetracycline (TET; 30 µg); 7, quinolones and fluoroquinolones: ciprofloxacin (CIP; 5 µg) and norfloxacin (NOR; 10 µg); 8, sulphonamides: trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (SXT; 25 µg), and 9, phenicols: chloramphenicol (CHL 30 µg). Penicillin (PEN; 6 µg) and erythromycin (ERY; 15 µg) were used as controls, because E. coli is intrinsically resistant to these antibiotics [ 61 ]. Additionally, E. coli DH5α was also included as a control across the experiments. Antibiotic resistance (ABR) was determined by measuring the diameter of the zone of inhibition around each antibiotic disc and comparing it with the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) [ 60 ] and the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) standards [ 62 ]. Antibiotic resistance profiles were analyzed using hierarchical clustering (HLC). For this purpose, the resistance or susceptibility of each isolate were coded in Excel ® (Microsoft, Redmond, WA, USA) as follows: −1 (resistant), 0 (intermediate), and 1 (susceptible); with the E. coli isolates represented in rows and the antibiotics in columns. Then the data were exported to MeV v4.6.2 software ( http://www.tm4.org/ , accessed on 10 June 2021) to perform HLC analysis using the Pearson correlation as a distance metric and the complete linkage method [ 58 , 63 ]. A graphical presentation (heat map) was generated with the upper limit (1; sensitive), midpoint (0; intermediate), and lowest limit (−1, resistant) colored green, black, and red, respectively [ 63 ].

3.1. Densities of Fecal Coliforms and E. coli in River Water Samples

Fecal coliforms were detected in 127 (96.2%) of 132 water samples and 43 (98%) of 44 locations (only in one location, Fnaidek, all 3 samples did not yield fecal coliforms CFUs) ( Figure 1 ). The average number of fecal coliforms in positive locations ranged from 1 × 10 0 CFU/100 mL to 3.66 × 10 4 CFU/100 mL. E. coli was detected in 126 samples (95.5%) and in 42 (95.5%) of 44 locations ( Figure 1 ). The average number of E. coli in positive locations ranged from 2.6 × 10 0 CFU/100 mL to 2.61 × 10 4 CFU/100 mL ( Figure 1 ). Average numbers of fecal coliforms were higher than E. coli in all positive locations; however, statistically higher average numbers of fecal coliforms ( p < 0.05) were noted for 27 locations ( Figure 1 ). The highest average counts were recorded in samples retrieved from the midstream of Beirut river (3.66 × 10 4 CFU/100 mL fecal coliforms and 2.61 × 10 4 CFU/100 mL E. coli ) followed by midstream and downstream of the Abou Ali river [Zgharta (2.16 × 10 4 CFU/100 mL, 1.1 × 10 4 CFU/100 mL) and Abou Ali (9.97 × 10 3 CFU/100 mL, 5.43 × 10 3 CFU/100 mL)] ( Figure 1 ). With the exception of Abou Ali, Awali, and Hasbani rivers, the fecal coliforms and E. coli counts were generally lower upstream in comparison with those from midstream and downstream locations in the majority of the rivers ( Figure 1 ).

The average loads of fecal coliforms and E. coli counts (CFU/100 mL) in Lebanese river water. The asterisk (*) represents a statistically significant difference between fecal coliforms and E. coli counts ( p < 0.05). The letters next to the sampling sites represents the location where the sample was collected, U = upstream, M = midstream, and D = downstream. Standard error bars are included with the averages.

3.2. Comparison of Fecal Coliforms and E. coli Counts to Irrigation and Recreation Standards

Fecal coliforms and E. coli counts were compared with the SEQ-EAU standard (100 CFU/100 mL) for irrigation water quality. Based on fecal coliforms counts, 97 (73.48%) of the 132 water samples and 33 (75%) of the 44 locations exceeded the SEQ-EAU-2003 standard ( Figure 2 and Figure 3 ), indicating that the water was unacceptable for irrigation. Similarly, when evaluating E. coli counts, it was found that 81 (61.3%) of the 132 samples and 27 (61.3%) of the 44 sampling locations exceeded the SEQ-EAU standard ( Figure 2 and Figure 3 ). In general, most of the samples that exceeded the permissible limit for irrigation (using fecal coliforms and/or E. coli counts) were collected from midstream and downstream locations across the major rivers. The fecal coliform counts in upstream samples from Litani and Hasbani (2 of 3 samples/location) rivers exceeded the standard for irrigation ( Figure 2 ). However, when considering E. coli counts, only upstream samples from Abou Ali and Awali rivers were found to be unacceptable ( Figure 2 ).

Distribution of counts of fecal coliforms ( A ) and E. coli ( B ) in samples collected from each location across the rivers: Upstream (blue circle), Midstream (orange), and Downstream (grey). The dotted black line indicates acceptable limit of thermo-tolerant coliforms based on the SEQ-EAUX-2003 standard for irrigation water (100 CFU/100 mL). The black line indicates the permissible limit of fecal coliforms for safe recreational water (800 CFU/100 mL) as per the EPA standards. Samples that did not yield fecal coliforms or E. coli are not represented in the figures.

Map showing the distribution of the water samples that exceeded the acceptable limits for irrigation and recreational use. ( A ) Assessment of the acceptability of water for irrigation and recreation using fecal coliforms numbers. Red circle: all samples exceeded acceptability limits for irrigation (unacceptable); green circle: all samples were below the acceptability limit for irrigation (acceptable); orange circles: 2 samples of 3 exceeded limits for irrigation (mixed). Red triangle: all samples exceeded limits for recreation; green triangle: all samples were below the acceptability limit for recreation. ( B ) Assessment of acceptability of water for irrigation using E. coli numbers. Red square: all samples exceeded limits for irrigation (unacceptable); green square: all samples were below the acceptability limit for irrigation (acceptable).

The acceptability of river water for recreation was evaluated using the US-EPA standard (800 fecal coliforms CFU/100 mL). Subsequently, 42 (31.8%) of the 132 samples and 14 (31.8%) of the 44 locations exceeded the recommended standard for safe recreational use. Again, samples that exceeded the standard were collected from midstream and downstream locations; with the Abou Ali river being an exception, where all samples and locations exceeded the standard. Notably, the majority of unacceptable water samples were collected from rivers in the North (30 of 42; 71.4%) in comparison with 18% of the samples collected in the South (6 of 33) and 9% in Mount Lebanon (3 of 33) ( Figure 2 and Figure 3 ).

3.3. The Antibiotic Resistance Profiles of E. coli Isolated from Water

Antibiotic resistance profiles of 378 E. coli (3 colonies per sample) were determined. The isolates exhibited resistance to ampicillin (40%), amoxicillin + clavulanic acid (42%), cefepime (4%), cefotaxime (14%), cephalexin (46%), cefixime (17%), doripenem (0.3%), imipenem (0.5%), gentamicin (6%), kanamycin (9%), streptomycin (35%), tetracycline (35%), ciprofloxacin (10%), norfloxacin (7%), trimethoprim + sulfamethoxazole (32%) and chloramphenicol (13%) ( Figure 4 ). All isolates were sensitive to meropenem. Furthermore, intermediate resistance was observed against several antibiotics, including streptomycin (38.26%), kanamycin (26.9%), ampicillin (8.44%), cefepime (8.1%), ciprofloxacin (4.75%), norfloxacin (3.4%), tetracycline (1.85%), cefotaxime (1.85%), cefixime (1.85%), imipenem (1.3%), doripenem (1%), meropenem (0.26%), gentamicin (0.26%), and chloramphenicol (0.26%) ( Figure 4 ). Notably, some E. coli ( n = 3) isolated from Oyoun el Samak (midstream of Bared river) and Zgharta (midstream of Abou Ali river) in the North were resistant to carbapenems (doripenem and/or imipenem) ( Figure 5 ). Furthermore, 45.8% ( n = 173) of the isolates were classified as multidrug resistant (MDR; resistance to at least three classes of antibiotics). Further analysis showed that 77%, 72%, 62%, 55.5%, and 47% of the E. coli from Beirut, Bared, Awali, Abou Ali, and Litani rivers were MDR, respectively ( Figure 5 ). Additionally, 8.7% (33 isolates), 7.1% (27), 6.8% (26), and 0.52% (2) of the isolates were resistant to 5, 6, 7, and 8 antibiotic classes, respectively. HLC analysis of the ABR profiles of isolates from each river showed widespread resistance to AMP, AMC, LEX, CFM, STR, TET, and SXT in most of the rivers ( Figure 5 ). Furthermore, resistance to CIP was notable in isolates from Bared, Abou Ali, and El Jawz rivers ( Figure 5 ).

Antibiotic resistance of E. coli (percentage) isolated from the rivers in Lebanon. Ampicillin (AMP), amoxicillin + clavulanic acid (AMC), cefepime (FEP), cefotaxime (CTX), cephalexin (LEX), cefixime (CFM), doripenem (DOR), meropenem (MEM), imipenem (IPM), gentamicin (GEN), kanamycin (KAN), streptomycin (STR), tetracycline (TET), ciprofloxacin (CIP), norfloxacin (NOR), trimethoprim + sulfamethoxazole (SXT), and chloramphenicol (CHL). The antibiotics are arranged according to the order of antibiotics/classes listed in the CLSI guidelines.

Hierarchical clustering of the antibiotic resistance (ABR) profiles of E. coli ( n = 378) isolated from rivers in Lebanon. The strains were analyzed per river; n indicates the number of isolates per river. The isolates are listed on the bottom of each dendrogram. Ampicillin (AMP), amoxicillin + clavulanic acid (AMC), cefepime (FEP), cefotaxime (CTX), cephalexin (LEX), cefixime (CFM), doripenem (DOR), meropenem (MEM), imipenem (IPM), gentamicin (GEN), kanamycin (KAN), streptomycin (STR), tetracycline (TET), ciprofloxacin (CIP), norfloxacin (NOR), trimethoprim + sulfamethoxazole (SXT), and chloramphenicol (CHL). The red color in the heat map represents resistance, while black and green indicate intermediate resistance and susceptibility, respectively.

4. Discussion

Clean water is an integral component in the production of safe food and in maintaining human health. The use of contaminated water results in a variety of waterborne diseases and aggravates infectious diseases and the burden of foodborne illnesses, especially in vulnerable and disenfranchised populations [ 64 , 65 ]. Therefore, it is paramount to monitor the quality of water in order to devise mechanisms and policies that prevent the contamination of vital water resources such as rivers. Despite the critical role of rivers in sustainable agriculture and socioeconomic growth in Lebanon [ 5 , 19 , 27 ], river water quality has been confronted with a plethora of challenges, including severe deficiencies in infrastructure, wastewater management, and antimicrobial stewardship. Although it is widely known that aquatic environments are severely affected by untreated sewage and other agricultural and industrial contaminants [ 66 , 67 ], studies on fecal pollution and microbial safety of surface water in Lebanon are scant. For this purpose, we conducted this study to evaluate water quality by assessing indicators of fecal pollution (fecal coliforms and E. coli ) [ 51 ] and antibiotic resistance ( E. coli ) [ 55 , 56 ] across all major rivers in Lebanon.

Our data showed that 96.2%, and 95.5% of the river water samples in Lebanon harbored fecal coliforms and E. coli , respectively ( Figure 1 and Figure 2 ). The widespread detection of the fecal indicators was not surprising, given that a previous report indicated that 92% of the collected wastewater in Lebanon were discarded, without any treatment, into aquatic environments, while a considerable number of buildings lacked connection to a sewer network [ 33 , 34 , 68 ]. The high bacterial loads reported in some locations such as midstream of Beirut (Beirut) and Oustwein (Khuraybat el Jundi) rivers, downstream of Bared (Bared) and Kabir (Arida) rivers, and across Abou Ali river were expected because these rivers are heavily impacted by human sewage and other urban contaminants. A report in 2016 indicated that WWTPs were either absent or operated at limited capacity to treat wastewater in the North and in Beirut, which resulted in the release of untreated wastewater to aquatic environments [ 33 , 34 ]. Additionally, these rivers are located in areas with high population densities, including crowded refugee camps that lack infrastructure [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 39 ]. Therefore, these rivers are affected by urban activities, highlighting the negative impact of crowding and the debilitated infrastructure on water quality. Although the fecal indicators were widely detected in river water samples, it was noted that samples collected from upstream harbored relatively lower numbers of fecal coliforms and E. coli as compared with midstream and downstream samples in 11 of the 14 rivers; Abou Ali, Awali, and Hasbani rivers were the exception ( Figure 1 ). This result suggested that the river sources were likely less affected by pollution, potentially due to limited urbanization in those locations. Therefore, as expected, the pollution (densities of fecal indicators) appears to increase as the rivers cross locations with more dense populations and increasing agricultural and industrial activities.

For assessing water quality in Lebanon, previous studies relied on international standards of fecal indicators in irrigation and recreational water. Specifically, the French SEQ-EAU-2003 [ 59 ] and the US EPA standard [ 51 , 69 ] have been considered for evaluating irrigation and recreational water quality, respectively. According to SEQ-EAU-2003, the acceptable limit of thermo-tolerant fecal coliforms (fecal coliforms or E. coli ) is 100 CFU/100 mL, which is similar to standards set by other countries in the European Union [ 70 ], including Spain (Royal Decree 1620/2007, December 2007) [ 71 , 72 ]. Consequently, we adopted these standards to assess the suitability of river water for irrigation and recreation in Lebanon. When considering both fecal coliforms and E. coli numbers, it was noted that 61.3–73.48% of samples and 61.3–75% of the locations exceeded the limit set by SEQ-EAU-2003 for irrigation water ( Figure 2 and Figure 3 ). Therefore, E. coli densities revealed a lower number of unacceptable irrigation water samples and locations in comparison with fecal coliforms ( Figure 2 and Figure 3 ). However, even when considering the more conservative indicator ( E. coli ), we found that a majority of the unacceptable samples were located in regions where agricultural practices are relatively concentrated, which includes the North of Lebanon (70.4%) and Beqaa (60%). Furthermore, in the South, samples from Jarmaq and Qasmiye rivers, which represent the midstream and downstream of the Litani river, exceeded the SEQ-EAU-2003 standard for irrigation. This can be attributed to the fact that the Litani river flows from the Beqaa Valley and carries sewage from different cities such as Baalbeck, Bar Elias, Zahle, Joub Jannine, and Sifri as well as effluents from informal refugee settlements and many industries (such as food factories and sugar mills), poultry farms, and slaughterhouses located in the Litani basin ( Figure 3 ) [ 73 ]. Notably, the Litani River is the chief source of irrigation for agricultural lands in the Beqaa Valley and the South, and it has been well established that the river is being subjected to different pollutants, including pesticides and human and animal waste [ 73 , 74 ]. For example, ~69 villages and cities release approximately 47 Mm 3 per year of raw sewage into the Litani River [ 75 ]. Taken together, it appears that a high number of water samples from agriculturally important rivers in Lebanon were fecally contaminated and were deemed unacceptable for irrigation. This can be further deduced by comparing the numbers with those from counties with better infrastructure and water management. For example, in Canada, of 501 irrigation water samples analyzed, only 0.8–22% exceeded the Canadian permissible limit for E. coli [ 76 ]. Furthermore, our findings suggest that human activities near the rivers significantly affect the safety of water, because most upstream sites, located in remote and less populated areas, were found to be suitable for irrigation ( Figure 3 ). Regardless, the quality of river water is a serious concern, because fecally-contaminated irrigation water will affect the safety of produce, which will increase the risk of contracting foodborne infections that can cause serious or life-threatening diseases in humans [ 77 , 78 ]. Fecal pathogens like Salmonella spp., E. coli O157:H7, Cryptosporidium , Norovirus, Hepatitis A Virus among others have been associated with the contamination of produce, resulting in considerable outbreaks and/or illnesses [ 79 ]. Indeed, three studies reported that the produce such as spinach, parsley, cabbage and lettuce collected from the Beqaa Valley were contaminated with fecal bacteria [ 27 , 80 , 81 ]. Notably, fresh produce is usually consumed raw, which increases the risk of foodborne diseases. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to monitor the quality of water used for irrigation in order to control the proliferation of disease in Lebanon, which is particularly vulnerable to these infections due to ongoing severe medical and economic crises [ 82 ]. It should be highlighted that our study did not assess other types of contamination like pesticides and other xenobiotics, which perhaps further emphasizes the potential impact and scope of water pollution.

To assess the suitability of water for recreational use, fecal coliforms counts from the water samples were compared with the US EPA standard ( Figure 2 and Figure 3 ). The data showed that 31.8% of the samples were deemed unacceptable for recreational use. Notably, the majority of the samples collected from the North (71.4%) of Lebanon were unacceptable for recreation, which is likely related to the pollution factors that were mentioned earlier. Additionally, the North has arguably more severe poverty and infrastructure challenges in comparison with the rest of the country [ 82 ]. Although 68.2% of the river samples were found to be suitable for recreational use (based on fecal coliforms counts), these results should be interpreted with caution, because (1) we only assessed fecal pollution but not other types of contamination such as chemical contaminants, (2) our sampling was cross-sectional and did not account for temporal variations in the densities of fecal indicators, (3) the sampling was done after a relatively wet season, and (4) some chemical contamination might have affected the densities of the fecal indicators. For example, pollution downstream of Beirut River (Beirut Port) from industrial, animal, and hospital wastes is well established; however, densities of fecal coliforms at this location did not exceed the EPA or SEQ-EAU-2003 standards for recreational use or irrigation. It is possible that the release of toxic chemicals (agrochemicals, detergents, chlorinated compound, etc.) might have altered the numbers of fecal coliforms in these samples [ 83 ].

It is known that even the discharge of treated sewage can release antibiotic-resistant bacteria, transmissible genetic elements that encode resistance, and antibiotics residue into environments [ 84 , 85 ]. Therefore, the emergence and dissemination of ABR has been linked to fecal pollution. Given that untreated sewage and other contaminants are released into Lebanese rivers and that ABR is widespread in other vital matrices in Lebanon [ 30 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ], it was necessary to address ABR in our samples. The latter was addressed by assessing resistance of river water E. coli , which is normally used as an indicator of ABR [ 86 , 87 ]. Our data showed that 173 (~45.8%) E. coli were multidrug resistant, exhibiting resistance to at least three antibiotic classes ( Figure 5 ). The percentage of multidrug-resistant E. coli in Lebanese rivers is slightly lower than those previously reported for sewage contaminated rivers in Romania (60.34%) [ 88 ] and in Ethiopia (78%) [ 89 ]. However, Lebanon is a much smaller country, both in size (~10,450 Km 2 ) and human population (~6.8 million) and has comparatively limited agricultural and industrial output, which perhaps reveals the severity of ABR prevalence in Lebanese river water. The latter can be further evaluated, when considering countries with better wastewater management systems. For example, MDR E.coli in surface waters in the Netherlands and Poland were detected in 11% [ 90 ] and 19% [ 91 ] of the samples, respectively.

In our study, resistance to cefalexin (46%), ampicillin (40%), amoxicillin + clavulanic acid (42%), streptomycin (34%), and tetracycline (35%), were the highest ( Figure 4 ). These antibiotics are considered clinically and agriculturally important, increasing the risk of complicated infections in swimmers, consumers of produce irrigated with contaminated waters, and livestock that might use these waters [ 85 , 92 ]. Resistance to carbapenems was low and only identified in three isolates from the North, specifically in Zgharta and Oyoun el Samak rivers ( Figure 5 ). However, this should be considered a warning sign, because carbapenems are last-resort antibiotics for treating complicated life-threatening infections in humans [ 93 ]. Recently, multidrug-resistant E. coli that also harbored transmissible resistance to colistin, which is used to treat carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infections, was detected in irrigation water and sewage in the Beqaa region [ 30 , 37 , 39 ]. Taken together, it can be argued that continuous contamination might cause river water to become a reservoir for the evolution, emergence, and dissemination of MDR bacterial pathogens and ABR genetic determinants.

5. Conclusions

To our knowledge, this study is the first nationwide assessment of fecal pollution and the dissemination of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in river water in Lebanon. The data show that most of the rivers in Lebanon are heavily contaminated by fecal indicator bacteria, which jeopardizes harnessing the full potential of these critical resources in irrigation and recreation. This is further confirmed by the detection of E . coli that were resistant to clinically and agriculturally important antibiotics. Although our study was cross-sectional and did not assess other factors like water flow, chemical contamination, and seasonal variation, the results indicate clearly that fecal pollution is severely impacting rivers in Lebanon. This study highlights the urgent need to implement proper wastewater management to preserve the safety and sustainability of river water in Lebanon. Our data also suggest that fecal pollution can be remediated because the majority of upstream locations were found to be less contaminated or acceptable. However, action must be taken immediately to prevent further deterioration of the rivers. Furthermore, there is a need to strengthen antimicrobial stewardship and enhance surveillance programs to study antibiotic resistance in environmental niches in Lebanon, which remains lacking. This issue is very important locally and regionally, because river water can also carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria across borders and into the Mediterranean basin. The assessment of the emergence and dissemination of antibiotic resistance in water and other environments in Lebanon would benefit greatly from future studies on the underlying genetic mechanisms of resistance. Finally, we call for adopting clear and strict guidelines and standards for water safety and to continuously monitor the quality of water in Lebanese rivers, which are essential contributors to public health and economy.

Acknowledgments

We thank the personnel of the Laboratory of Food Microbiology (AUB, NFSC) for their support.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, I.I.K.; methodology, I.I.K. and H.J.; validation, I.I.K.; formal analysis, I.I.K., J.H., S.K., H.J., and L.A.D.; investigation, I.I.K., L.A.D., and J.H.; resources, I.I.K.; data curation, I.I.K., J.H., S.K., and H.J.; writing—original draft preparation, I.I.K., J.H., and L.A.D.; writing—review and editing, I.I.K., J.H., and H.J.; visualization, I.I.K.; supervision, I.I.K.; project administration, I.I.K.; funding acquisition; I.I.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This work was partially funded by a University Research Board (URB) grant from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and seed funding from the Center for Food Safety, University of Georgia (UGA).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

We declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

• Health topics
• Data and statistics
• Media centre
• Information resources

[{{{type}}}] {{{reason}}}

{{texts.summary}} {{#options.result.rssIcon}} RSS {{/options.result.rssIcon}}

{{{_source.title}}} {{#_source.showPrice}} {{{_source.displayPrice}}} {{/_source.showPrice}}

{{{_source.displayUrl}}}

{{{_source.displayDate}}}

{{{_source.description}}}

{{#_source.additionalFields}} {{#title}} {{{label}}}: {{{title}}} {{/title}} {{/_source.additionalFields}}

Select your language

• اللغة العربية

River water pollution in Lebanon: the country’s most underestimated public health challenge

PDF version

Carolla El Chamieh 1 , Claudia El Haddad 2 , Khaled El Khatib 3 , Edmond Jalkh 4 , Victoria Al Karaki 5 , Jana Zeineddine 6 , Antoine Assaf 7 , Tania Harb 8 and Elie Bou Sanayeh 2

1 Independent Researcher, Paris, France. 2 Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon. 3 Department of Family Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon. 4 Department of Ophthalmology, Eye and Ear International Hospital, Naccache, Lebanon; 5 Department of Emergency Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon. 6 Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon. 7 Department of Emergency Medicine, Notre Dame des Secours University Hospital, Jbeil, Lebanon. 8Department of Radiology, Notre Dame des Secours University Hospital, Jbeil, Lebanon (Correspondence to Elie Bou Sanayeh: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ).

Background : Due to the several interconnected crises that Lebanon has been facing for the past 4 years, many important social and environmental issues have been overlooked until more “pressing” ones are dealt with. Consequently, water pollution in Lebanon continues to worsen.

Aim : This study aimed to describe the microbiological and chemical properties of the 10 main rivers in Lebanon and to assess their suitability for irrigation, while exploring some of the solutions to the problem.

Methods : This cross-sectional study evaluated the pollution level of water from 10 rivers in Lebanon in June 2023 and their suitability for irrigation. Samples were collected at 3°C and their quality parameters were measured. Statistical analysis was conducted using R statistical software version 4.0.2.

Results : Compared to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) guidelines for safe irrigation water use, 4 out of the 10 samples had pH levels exceeding the permissible threshold, resulting in severe limitations on their usability. Three rivers had nitrate concentrations that exceeded the approved range, thus constraining their severe usage. Among the rivers, 60% had Escherichia coli levels higher than the permissible spectrum and 40% had faecal coliform counts exceeding FAO's upper limit recommendation. All water sources, however, had total dissolved solid levels that were within the recommended range.

Conclusions : Polluted water can have a negative impact on human, wildlife and ecosystem health. Most of the assessed rivers in our study contained bacterial colonies, above the maximum recommended internationally. There is therefore an urgent need to address pollution issues in Lebanese waters to make them suitable for irrigation and other uses.

Keywords: water pollution, agriculture, environmental health, irrigation, public health, farming, water quality, One Health, FAO, Lebanon

Citation : El Chamieh C, El Haddad C, El Khatib K, Jalkh E, Al Karaki V, Zeineddine J, et al. River water pollution in Lebanon: the country’s most underestimated public health challenge. East Mediterr Health J. 2024;30(2):136–144. https://doi.org/10.26719/emhj.24.029. Received: 11/07/23; Accepted: 18/10/23

Copyright: © Authors 2024; Licensee: World Health Organization. EMHJ is an open access journal. All papers published in EMHJ are available under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial ShareAlike 3.0 IGO licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo).

Over the past century, global health has faced many challenges, including increasing rates of drug-resistant pathogens, environmental pollution, climate change and disease outbreaks (1). However, one of the most underestimated serious public health challenges is water pollution, which involves the introduction of harmful substances or pollutants into water bodies (2,3). Among all water resources, rivers are of particular concern given that their water serves a wide array of domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes (4).

Assuring the quality of river water routinely used for irrigation of crops is crucial as it can be a source of foodborne pathogens (2,5). When polluted water is used for irrigation, fruits and vegetables may absorb contaminants introduced into the soil (5,6). Subsequently, these pollutants are consumed by humans, significantly contributing to the emergence of severe health problems and even fatalities across the food chain (2,5–7). This problem has global implications with far-reaching consequences, especially considering that approximately 62% of the world’s irrigated lands depend heavily on surface water for agricultural purposes (2).

Alarmingly, an estimated 10% of this irrigated agricultural land, equivalent to 20 million hectares of cropland, uses wastewater for irrigation (8). This issue affects developed and developing countries alike (7,9,10). Globally, millions of people die from diarrhoeal diseases each year (9). A report from the United States illustrated an association between the use of contaminated irrigation water and several foodborne disease outbreaks involving pathogens like Shigella, norovirus and Escherichia coli (E. coli) (6,10–12). In addition to causing fatalities, water-related diseases hinder individuals from maintaining employment and leading active lives (13).

Lebanon, a developing country known for its diverse hydrological landscape and characterized by a network of 14 large rivers (14), suffers from the same issue. Many of the country’s water bodies face significant challenges from water pollution, given the lack of pertinent laws and regulations (2,15). Leading contributors of pollution include solid waste mismanagement and industrial discharges concentrated in heavy metals and toxic substances (2). Agriculture is not only a passive victim of pollution, but also actively propagates it (16,17).

Worldwide, agricultural pollution has surpassed contamination originating from urban settlements and industrial sources (18). Nitrate, originating from chemical and organic fertilizers, is the predominant anthropogenic pollutant in river water (16,18). Insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, when improperly applied or disposed, can introduce carcinogens and other harmful compounds into adjacent water bodies (16–18). For instance, Lebanon’s largest river, the Litani, is contaminated with agricultural fertilizers and pesticides from adjacent power plants and farm lands (15).

Another key contributor to Lebanese river water pollution is the increase in population, particularly with the influx of more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees (19–21). Many refugees reside in camps located near rivers (21) and the lack of wastewater treatment plants and sewage networks has led to the contamination of water bodies with poorly treated sewage rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and pathogens (2,21–23).

It is estimated that more than 90% of collected wastewater is released directly into rivers without treatment (24). This strongly implies that surface water in Lebanon harbours a variety of microbial pathogens, including bacteria, viruses and parasites (2). Subsequently, rivers can act as a conduit for the spread of pathogens to other essential resources, including the food chain (2), especially since farmers depend mainly on this water source for agriculture (2). It is estimated that 45% of the irrigated lands in Lebanon rely on river water as a primary source (3).

Several national projects have been conducted to assess the water quality of Lebanese rivers. One study reviewed the chemical and microbiological characteristics of water in 8 coastal rivers during the dry season (25). An article published in 2018 assessed the chemical properties of 4 major rivers year-round (26). Other publications focused on individual rivers, for example, Massoud et al. wrote about the impact of land-based projects on the Abou Ali River, while Merhabi et al. assessed the effect of contaminants on the Kadisha River (27,28).

Unfortunately, there have been no studies in Lebanon to evaluate the implications of river water pollution for human health, particularly for waterborne diseases. In recent years, growing attention from organizations like WHO has focused mainly on cholera due to outbreaks in the country (29–31), notably in areas neighbouring the rivers (20,30).

Following several interconnected crises that Lebanon has faced in past years (32), studies examining the country’s river water pollution have been halted. Consequently, we decided to provide an update, given the need to develop solutions to meet this challenge. Our primary objective was to describe the microbiological and chemical properties of the main rivers of Lebanon and to assess their suitability for irrigation. Our secondary objective was to find associations between different analysed parameters, and to compare them to the available literature while identifying solutions that can be implemented to address river water pollution.

Methodology

Study design and setting.

This cross-sectional study evaluated the water pollution levels of rivers in Lebanon. The 14 rivers in Lebanon can be divided into 10 coastal rivers originating from Mount Lebanon and stretching towards the Mediterranean Sea, and 4 central rivers (El Kabir, Litani, Al Assi, Hasbani) characterized by distinctive flow directions and discharge areas (14).

In this study, we assessed the quality of irrigation water sourced from the 10 primary rivers in Lebanon used for agricultural purposes, listed in order from north to south Lebanon: El Kabir, Kadisha, El Jaouz (Kfarhelda), Abraham, Antelias (a branch between El Kalb and Beirut rivers), Damour, El Awali, Litani and 2 of its branches, the Al Ghzayel and Ammiq rivers. The selection of these rivers was guided by their paramount importance in agriculture, their substantial water resources and the potential consequences of pollution on crop development. The need to ensure minimal impact on human health underscored the rationale for this choice.

We chose these 10 rivers because they serve as the primary water sources for Lebanon’s irrigation needs, allowing us to offer a comprehensive view of water quality in agriculturally significant regions. We selected rivers from each of Lebanon’s 8 provinces to ensure a diverse and representative sample that would capture regional variations influenced by environmental factors and human activities.

The sampling was conducted in June 2023. We chose this month because it marks the onset of Lebanon’s summer season. By this time, winter snow would have already melted into the rivers, increasing water flow, and the minimal rainfall in June reduces the risk of rainwater infiltration. This choice provided a stable baseline for assessing water quality when farmers commence river water use for irrigation, given that river water use is highest during early summer.

Sampling strategy

To assess irrigation water quality, samples of river water were collected from the 10 river shores already mentioned. For the sampling procedure, trained team members unsealed sterile cups at one-third under the water surface to prevent environmental contamination. Once collected, samples were stored at 3ºC in a portable refrigerator and transported immediately to a dedicated laboratory, where they were analysed in a blinded manner.

Measurement parameters

For each sample, we measured a comprehensive range of water quality parameters: physical, such as water aspect and pH; chemical, including dissolved oxygen, the percentage of oxygen saturation, and the levels of phosphate, nitrate, sulfate and total dissolved solids (TDS); and microbiological, in which the properties were examined by assessing the presence and quantity of E. coli and faecal coliform bacterial colonies. From this we established the total coliform count.

Data analysis

Continuous variables were presented as mean ± standard deviation, while categorical variables were presented as frequency (percentage). The Spearman correlation test was used to correlate 2 continuous variables. P values lower than 0.05 were considered as a significant association. Analyses were performed using R statistical software, version 4.0.2. 

Descriptive results

Table 1 presents the chemical parameters of the 10 investigated rivers. The pH values of our samples ranged between 7.31 and 9.11, with an average of 7.8 ± 0.87. Only El Kabir, Abraham and Ammiq rivers presented a clear water aspect. Six out of 10 rivers presented low dissolved oxygen and oxygen saturation percentages.

Regarding the nutrients, Ammiq River had the highest concentrations of nitrate and phosphate (39.8 mg/L and 2.1 mg/L, respectively) while the Litani River presented the lowest concentrations (0.9 mg/L and 0.03 mg/L, respectively). The lowest concentration of sulfate was in Damour River, while the highest was in El Awali River.

Table 2 shows the microbiological parameters of the rivers. The counts of E. coli, faecal coliform, and total coliforms were variable, displaying wide ranges. Out of the 10 rivers, only Kfarhelda, Abraham, Damour and Ammiq were found to be free from parasitic contamination. The presence of E. coli and faecal coliform was undetectable in Abraham and Ammiq rivers, and slightly detectable in Kfarhelda and Damour rivers.

However, in the remaining rivers we found large quantities of E. coli and parasites. Notably, samples from El Kabir, Kadisha, Antelias and El Awali rivers had exceedingly high levels of E. coli and faecal coliform with low dissolved oxygen and high phosphate and TDS levels (Tables 1 and 2).

Correlation between water quality parameters

Figure 1 shows the correlation between water quality parameters. A strongly positive correlation was found between phosphate and TDS (r=0.96, P

Lebanon’s agriculture is rich and, for a country that relies on river water for irrigation, securing clean water is essential. Ensuring safe water use can reduce waterborne diseases and, in turn, the overall burden on the healthcare system (33). However, with Lebanon’s worsening economic crisis and poor infrastructure, water pollution levels continue to rise drastically with insufficient efforts to curtail it (2). This study aims to raise awareness of the implications for public health and elicit appropriate actions for positive change.

Compared to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) guidelines for safe irrigation water use (pH=6–8.5) (34), 4 rivers, namely, El Kabir, Kadisha, Damour and Litani, had a pH above the acceptable limit, corresponding to severe restriction on use. This finding differs from previous Lebanese studies where pH values of the Litani and Damour rivers were within the normal range (4,35).

Half of the rivers – El Kabir, Kadisha, Kfarhelda, El Awali and Ammiq – exceeded the acceptable limit for nitrate levels. The nitrate concentrations in the latter 3 rivers surpassed 30 mg/L, corresponding to severe restriction on their use, according to FAO guidelines (34). Both pH and nitrates present miscellaneous effects on susceptible crops.

High nitrate levels may cause excessive vegetative growth and retard crop maturity, thus delaying fruit production and maturity (34). This issue may disrupt the overall farming calendar and limit the availability of nutrient-dense foods, leading in the long-term to an increased risk of malnutrition and chronic diseases, especially in certain Lebanese regions known for their agricultural wealth and local products consumption.

In the absence of a wide variety of fresh fruit options, individuals may opt for processed foods that are rich in sugar, salt and saturated fat. These dietary options are linked to an elevated risk of developing chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity.

TDS refers to the amount of organic and inorganic materials found in water, such as salt, minerals or metals. According to FAO guidelines, TDS levels must range between 0 and 2000 mg/L in irrigation water (34). A value above 2000 mg/L could reflect water pollution due to human activities (34). In our study, all water sources had a TDS within the acceptable limit

The presence of E. coli and faecal coliform is an indicator of water pollution and a benchmark for assessing the quality of irrigation water (34). Our study demonstrated a wide range in E. coli and faecal coliform counts, and our analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between these 2 parameters. These results were in line with a Canadian study conducted by Steele et al. (36).

Consequently, either E. coli or faecal coliform could be used to measure faecal contamination. As per FAO recommendations, a maximum of 1000 faecal coliform per 100 ml and 126 E. coli coliform per 100 ml are considered acceptable for irrigation water (34).

In contrast to the Canadian study (36), which found that around 90% of the irrigation water samples had acceptable levels of E. coli, only 40% of the rivers that we evaluated had levels within the acceptable range. Four rivers, namely El Kabir, Kadisha, Antelias and El Awali, exhibited faecal coliform counts surpassing the upper limit recommended by FAO. Elevated levels of these bacteria constitute a major threat to public health as they are associated with severe illness outbreaks (37).

Various microbiological studies have found pathogenic microbes in raw fruits and vegetables (38,39). Raw fruits and vegetables may become contaminated through contact with soil or through irrigation with contaminated water (40). For instance, previous experimental studies have shown that irrigation water can transmit E. coli to lettuce plants (41,42). The risk of disease transmission increases when fruits and vegetables are eaten raw, leading to outbreaks of foodborne infectious intestinal disease, which can cause symptoms such as stomach discomfort, vomiting, diarrhoea and fever (38).

We observed a significant inverse relationship between dissolved oxygen and both E.coli and faecal coliform levels. Certain rivers exhibited diminished dissolved oxygen concentrations alongside elevated coliform levels. This can be explained by the fact that

E. coli and faecal coliform – originating mainly from the dumping of waste into water bodies – are facultative anaerobes that deprive the environment of dissolved oxygen as the waste decomposes. Subsequently, depleted dissolved oxygen levels interfere with the life cycle of aquatic organisms, negatively affecting the overall environment (43).

Potential solutions

Citizens’ lives depend on public health authorities addressing river water pollution in Lebanon. This requires an urgent multifaceted approach, including:

Sewage treatment

One of the sources of river water pollution in Lebanon is untreated or poorly treated sewage. Improving sewage treatment plants and enforcing regulations to ensure that they are properly maintained and operated can reduce the amount of wastewater that is released into rivers. This can be achieved by investing in new technologies, such as advanced wastewater treatment systems, and by training operators to use these systems effectively.

Improving the overall infrastructure for sewage collection and treatment can reduce the risk of sewage overflow, which can contaminate rivers during heavy rainfall. It is also vital to follow WHO guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater (44). These guidelines emphasize risk assessment, management and communication to ensure the safe use of wastewater and related materials in agriculture, aquaculture and other activities (44).

Regulation of industrial discharge

Another significant contributor to river water pollution is industrial discharge, especially in the Beqaa Region. Regulating industrial discharge and implementing best practices for waste management can prevent chemicals and toxic substances from contaminating rivers. This can include regulations to ensure that industrial facilities properly treat and dispose of waste, and regulations that limit the amount of pollutants that can be released into waterways.

Encouraging industries to adopt more sustainable practices, such as reducing their use of hazardous chemicals and implementing recycling programmes, can also mitigate the impact of industrial activities on rivers.

Regulation of agricultural practices

Agriculture is another source of water pollution, due to fertilizer and pesticide runoff into rivers. Implementing best practices for agricultural waste management, such as using cover crops and crop rotation, can reduce the amount of fertilizer and pesticide runoff into rivers.

Encouraging farmers to adopt more sustainable practices, such as using low-toxicity pesticides and reducing the use of fertilizer, can also reduce the impact of agricultural activities on rivers.

Education and awareness

Raising public awareness about the dangers of water pollution and the importance of proper waste disposal can encourage individuals to take action to protect rivers. This can include campaigns to educate the public about the importance of not littering, as well as programmes to educate communities about the dangers of polluting rivers and the benefits of protecting them.

Collaborating with schools and universities to incorporate environmental education into the curriculum can instil a sense of environmental responsibility in the next generation.

Monitoring and enforcement

Regular monitoring and enforcement of water quality standards can ensure that polluters are held accountable and rivers are protected. This can include regular water quality testing and monitoring of discharge levels, as well as enforcement of regulations that limit the amount of pollutants that can be released into waterways.

Holding companies and individuals accountable for the impact of their activities on rivers can motivate them to adopt more sustainable practices.

Restoration and protection of riverine ecosystems

Restoring damaged ecosystems and protecting natural areas along rivers can improve water quality and reduce the impact of pollution. This can include planting trees and other vegetation along riverbanks to reduce erosion and improve water quality, as well as restoring damaged wetlands that serve as important habitats for wildlife and filter pollutants from water.

Protecting areas of high conservation value, such as wildlife sanctuaries and national parks, can ensure that these important ecosystems are preserved for future generations.

Implementing international conventions

Lebanon is a signatory to several international conventions related to water pollution, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity. These conventions provide a framework for addressing water pollution at the national level, and implementing them can ensure that Lebanon is taking appropriate measures to protect its rivers. By implementing these conventions, Lebanon can demonstrate its commitment to reducing water pollution and preserving the health of its rivers.

By implementing these steps, we can ensure that future generations have access to clean and safe water.

Study strengths and limitations

This study is one of the few that address the environmental impact of the economic crisis on water quality in Lebanon’s main rivers. It was intended to shed light on the importance of maintaining the sustainability of these resources and to emphasize the need to invest time and money into developing solutions to meet this national challenge.

Water samples were collected only once from each river for biochemical and microbiological assessment. Several readings would have offered more accurate and certain results. Sampling from different sites of the rivers could have enriched our results.

Samples taken during other seasons could have made comparison possible, widening the assessment to cover seasonal impacts on river pollution. Our study’s data were collected at the beginning of the summer; thus, our results are skewed towards one extreme, failing to assess year-round values. Moreover, conclusions on the safety of irrigation water cannot be drawn based only on laboratory results; they must be tested and confirmed through field trials.

Future studies are needed to accurately assess the level of water pollution in Lebanese rivers across the seasons while using sequential and temporal readings.

Polluted water in Lebanon can have a negative impact on the health of humans and wildlife, as well as the wider ecosystem, making it an urgent issue that must be addressed. Most of the assessed rivers in our study contained bacterial colonies, which contravenes FAO guidelines. By taking action to address this pollution, Lebanon can help protect the health of its citizens and the environment, and ensure that its rivers remain a source of pride for generations to come.

Funding : None.

Competing interests : None declared.

Pollution des cours d'eau au Liban : le problème de santé publique le plus msous-estimé du pays

Contexte  : En raison des nombreuses crises interdépendantes auxquelles le Liban a dû faire face au cours des quatre dernières années, certaines problématiques sociales et environnementales ont été négligées au profit d'autres jugées plus « importantes ». En conséquence, la pollution de l'eau au Liban continue de s'intensifier.

Objectif  : La présente étude visait à décrire les propriétés microbiologiques et chimiques des 10 principaux cours d'eau du Liban et à évaluer si elles sont adaptées à l'irrigation, tout en examinant certaines solutions au problème.

Méthodes  : La présente étude transversale a évalué le niveau de pollution de 10 cours d'eau au Liban en juin 2023 et a déterminé s'ils sont adaptés à l'irrigation. Les échantillons ont été prélevés à une température de 3 °C et leurs paramètres de qualité ont été mesurés. Une analyse statistique a été réalisée à l'aide du logiciel de statistiques R version 4.0.2.

Résultats  : Par rapport aux lignes directrices de l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO) concernant l'utilisation sûre de l'eau d'irrigation, quatre des 10 échantillons présentaient des taux de pH supérieurs au seuil autorisé, entraînant de sévères limitations quant à l'utilisabilité de ces eaux. Trois cours d'eau présentaient des concentrations de nitrate supérieures à la fourchette autorisée, ce qui limitait leur utilisation intensive. Soixante pour cent des cours d'eau affichaient des niveaux d'Escherichia coli supérieurs à la fourchette autorisée et 40 % enregistraient un nombre de coliformes fécaux excédant la limite maximale recommandée par la FAO. Cependant, tous les cours d'eau présentaient des niveaux totaux de solides dissous compris dans la fourchette recommandée.

Conclusion  : L'eau polluée peut avoir un impact négatif sur la santé des humains, des espèces sauvages et des écosystèmes. La plupart des cours d'eau évalués dans notre étude contenaient un nombre de colonies bactériennes supérieur au seuil maximal recommandé à l'échelle internationale. Il est donc urgent de remédier aux problèmes de pollution des eaux au Liban afin de les rendre aptes à l'irrigation et à d'autres usages.

تلوُّث مياه الأنهار في لبنان: المشكلة الصحية العامة المستهون بها بشدة في البلد

كارولا الشامية، كلوديا الحداد، خالد الخطيب، إدموند جلخ، فيكتوريا الكراكي، جانا زين الدين، أنطوان عساف، تانيا حارب، إيلي بو سناء

الخلفية : نظرًا للأزمات المترابطة العديدة التي يواجهها لبنان منذ 4 سنوات (منذ 2019 )، جرى تجاهل العديد من القضايا الاجتماعية والبيئية المهمة من أجل التعامل مع القضايا الأخرى الأكثر "إلحاحًا". ونتيجة لذلك، لا يزال تلوُّث المياه في لبنان يتفاقم.

الأهداف : هدفت هذه الدراسة إلى وصف الخصائص الميكروبيولوجية والكيميائية للأنهار الرئيسية العشرة في لبنان وتقييم مدى ملاءمتها للري، مع استكشاف بعض الحلول للمشكلة.

طرق البحث : قيَّمت هذه الدراسة المقطعية مستوى تلوُّث المياه المأخوذة من 10 أنهار في لبنان في يونيو/حزيران 2023 ومدى ملاءمتها للري. وجُمعت العينات في درجة حرارة 3 درجات مئوية وقِيسَت بارامترات جودتها. وأُجريَ تحليل إحصائي بالإصدار 4,0,2 من برنامج R الإحصائي.

النتائج : مقارنةً بالمبادئ التوجيهية لمنظمة الأغذية والزراعة (الفاو) بشأن استخدام مياه الري المأمونة، كانت مستويات درجة الحموضة في 4 عينات من أصل 10 عينات تتجاوز الحدَّ الأدنى المسموح به، وهو ما أدى إلى وجود قيود شديدة على إمكانية استخدامها. وفي ثلاثة أنهار تركيزاتٌ من النترات تتجاوز النطاق المعتمد، الأمر الذي يحد من استخدامها بشدة. ومن بين الأنهار، كان لدى 60% منها مستويات من الإشريكية القولونية أعلى من النطاق المسموح به، وكان لدى 40% منها أعداد من القولونيات البرازية تتجاوز الحد الأقصى الذي أوصت به منظمة الأغذية والزراعة. غير أن مستويات إجمالي المواد الصلبة المذابة في جميع مصادر المياه تقع ضمن النطاق المُوصى به.

الاستنتاجات : يمكن أن يكون للمياه الملوثة تأثير سلبي على صحة الإنسان والحياة البرية والنظام الإيكولوجي. وتحتوي معظم الأنهار التي قُيِّمت في دراستنا على مستعمرات بكتيرية بما يتجاوز الحد الأقصى المُوصى به دوليًّا. ولذلك هناك حاجة ملحة لمعالجة قضايا التلوث في المياه اللبنانية لجعلها مناسبة للري والاستخدامات الأخرى.

• Schwarzenbach RP, Egli T, Hofstetter TB, Von Gunten U, Wehrli B. Global Water Pollution and Human Health. Annual Rev Env Res. 2010;35:109–136. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-environ-100809-125342.
• Dagher LA, Hassan J, Kharroubi S, Jaafar H, Kassem II. Nationwide Assessment of Water Quality in Rivers across Lebanon by Quantifying Fecal Indicators Densities and Profiling Antibiotic Resistance of Escherichia coli. Antibiotics. 2021;10(7):883. DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics10070883.
• Boretti A, Rosa L. Reassessing the projections of the World Water Development Report. NPJ Clean Water. 2019;2(1):15. DOI:10.1038/s41545-019-0039-9.
• Massoud MA. Assessment of water quality along a recreational section of the Damour River in Lebanon using the water quality index. Environ Monit Assess. 2012;184(7):4151–4160. DOI: 10.1007/s10661-011-2251-z.
• Mishra BP. Water pollution and food contamination in relation to health hazards: Food safety as a global challenge. Pollution Research. 2008;27(3):395–400. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287460205_Water_pollution_and_food_contamination_in_relation_to_health_hazards_Food_safety_as_a_global_challenge.
• Gelting R, Baloch M. A systems analysis of irrigation water quality in environmental assessments related to foodborne outbreaks. Aquatic procedia. 2013;2:130–137. DOI: 10.1016/j.aqpro.2013.07.011.
• Onyango AE, Okoth MW, Kunyanga CN, Aliwa BO. Microbiological Quality and Contamination Level of Water Sources in Isiolo County in Kenya. J Environ Public Health. 2018;2018:2139867. DOI: 10.1155/2018/2139867.
• Goyal MR. Wastewater Management for Irrigation: Principles and Practices. CRC Press. 2016. DOI:10.1201/B18967.
• Mohsin M, Safdar S, Asghar F, Jamal F. Assessment of Drinking Water Quality and its Impact on Residents Health in Bahawalpur City. Int J Humanities Soc Sci. 2013;3(15):114–128. https://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_15_August_2013/14.pdf.
• Hlavsa MC, Aluko SK, Miller AD, Person J, Gerdes ME, Lee S et al. Outbreaks Associated with Treated Recreational Water – United States, 2015–2019. American Journal of Transplantation. 2021 Jul;21(7):2605–9. DOI: 10.1111/ajt.16037.
• Esschert KLV, Mattioli MC, Hilborn ED, Roberts VA, Yu AT, Lamba K et al. Outbreaks Associated with Untreated Recreational Water – California, Maine, and Minnesota, 2018–2019. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69(25):781–783. DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6925a3.
• Hlavsa MC, Cikesh BL, Roberts VA, Kahler AM, Vigar M, Hilborn ED et al. Outbreaks Associated with Treated Recreational Water – United States, 2000–2014. American Journal of Transplantation. 2018; 18(7):1815–1819. DOI: 10.1111/ajt.14956.
• Memon M, Soomro MS, Akhtar MS, Memon KS. Drinking water quality assessment in Southern Sindh (Pakistan). Environ Monit Assess. 2011;177(1-4):39–50. DOI: 10.1007/s10661-010-1616-z.
• Shaban A. Rivers of Lebanon: Significant Water Resources under Threats. Hydrology: IntechOpen. 2021. DOI:10.5772/intechopen.94152.
• Awwad N. Litani River: A Sorry State of the Affairs. EcoMENA. 2020. https://www.ecomena.org/litani-river/.
• Mateo-Sagasta J, Zadeh SM, Turral H. Water pollution from agriculture: a global review. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2017. https://www.fao.org/3/i7754e/i7754e.pdf. Accessed 9 September 2023.
• USGS. Agricultural Contaminants. 2019. https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/agricultural-contaminants#:~:text=Agricultural%20contaminants%20can%20impair%20the,streams%2C%20rives%2C%20and%20groundwater. Accessed 9 September 2023.
• UNESCO. Agriculture. UN world water development report 2022. https://www.unesco.org/reports/wwdr/2022/en/agriculture. Accessed 9 September 2023.
• Devi S. War driving cholera in Syria. Lancet. 2022;400(10357):986. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01836-0.
• Helou M, Khalil M, Husni R. The Cholera Outbreak in Lebanon: October 2022. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2023;17:e422. DOI: 10.1017/dmp.2023.76.
• Sulaiman AAA, Kassem II. First report on the detection of the plasmid-borne colistin resistance gene mcr-1 in multi-drug resistant E. coli isolated from domestic and sewer waters in Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2019;30:117–120. DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2019.06.014.
• Karam F, Mouneimne AH, El-Ali F, Mordovanaki G, Rouphael Y. Wastewater management and reuse in Lebanon. J App Sci Res. 2013;9(4):2868–2879. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249967889_Wastewater_management_and_reuse_in_Lebanon.
• Geara-Matta D, Moilleron R, El Samarani A, Lorgeoux C, Chebbo G. State of Art about water uses and wastewater management in Lebanon. Worldwide Workshop for Young Environmental Scientists: 2010; 2010. https://core.ac.uk/download/48352023.pdf.
• Karnib A. Assessing population coverage of safely managed wastewater systems: A case study of Lebanon. J Water San Hygiene Dev. 2016;6(2):313–319. DOI:10.2166/WASHDEV.2016.009.
• Houri A, El Jeblawi SW. Water quality assessment of Lebanese coastal rivers during dry season and pollution load into the Mediterranean Sea. J Water Health. 2007;5(4):615–623. DOI: 10.2166/wh.2007.047.
• Daou C, Salloum M, Legube B, Kassouf A, Ouaini N. Characterization of spatial and temporal patterns in surface water quality: a case study of four major Lebanese rivers. Environ Monit Assess. 2018;190(8):1–16. DOI: 10.1007/s10661-018-6843-8.
• Massoud MA, El-Fadel M, Scrimshaw MD, Lester JN. Factors influencing development of management strategies for the Abou Ali River in Lebanon I: Spatial variation and land use. Sci Total Environ. 2006;362(1-3):15–30. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.09.079.
• Merhabi F, Gomez E, Amine H, Rosain D, Halwani J, Fenet H. Occurrence, distribution, and ecological risk assessment of emerging and legacy contaminants in the Kadicha river in Lebanon. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021;28(44):62499–62518. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-15049-0.
• Republic of Lebanon, Ministry of Public Health. Cholera in Lebanon. https://moph.gov.lb/en/Pages/2/64577/cholera-surveillance-in-lebanon. Accessed 8 September 2023.
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Syria and Lebanon hit by cholera: preventing the collapse of essential infrastructure is imperative to avoid devastating health and humanitarian consequences. 3 November 2022. https://www.icrc.org/en/document/syria-and-lebanon-hit-by-cholera. Accessed 8 September 2023.
• World Health Organization. Weekly epidemiological record. 2021;96(37):445–460. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/345267. Accessed 7 September 2023.
• Khattar G, Hallit J, El Chamieh C, Bou Sanayeh E. Cardiovascular drug shortages in Lebanon: a broken heart. Health Econ Rev. 2022;12(1):1–2. DOI: 10.1186/s13561-022-00369-9.
• World Health Organization. Safer water, better health. 2019. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241516891.
• Ayers RS, Westcot DW. Water quality for agriculture: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 1985. https://www.fao.org/3/T0234E/T0234E00.htm.
• Saadeh M, Semerjian L, Amacha N. Physicochemical evaluation of the Upper Litani River watershed, Lebanon. Scientific World J. 2012;2012:462–467. DOI: 10.1100/2012/462467.
• Steele M, Mahdi A, Odumeru J. Microbial assessment of irrigation water used for production of fruit and vegetables in Ontario, Canada. J Food Prot. 2005;68(7):1388–1392. DOI: 10.4315/0362-028x-68.7.1388.
• Aram SA, Saalidong BM, Osei Lartey P. Comparative assessment of the relationship between coliform bacteria and water geochemistry in surface and ground water systems. PloS One. 2021;16(9):e0257715. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257715.
• European Commission. Risk profile on the Microbiological Contamination of Fruits and Vegetables Eaten Raw. Scientific Committee on Food. 2002. https://food.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2020-12/sci-com_scf_out125_en.pdf.
• Beuchat LR. Survival of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157: H7 in bovine feces applied to lettuce and the effectiveness of chlorinated water as a disinfectant. J Food Prot. 1999;62(8):845–849. DOI: 10.4315/0362-028x-62.8.845.
• World Health Organization. Surface decontamination of fruits and vegetables eaten raw: a review. 1998. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-FSF-FOS-98.2.
• Solomon EB, Potenski CJ, Matthews KR. Effect of irrigation method on transmission to and persistence of Escherichia coli O157: H7 on lettuce. J Food Prot. 2002;65(4):673–676. DOI: 10.4315/0362-028x-65.4.673.
• Wachtel MR, Whitehand LC, Mandrell RE. Association of Escherichia coli O157: H7 with preharvest leaf lettuce upon exposure to contaminated irrigation water. J Food Prot. 2002;65(1):18–25. DOI: 10.4315/0362-028x-65.1.18.
• Baez A, Shiloach J. Escherichia coli avoids high dissolved oxygen stress by activation of SoxRS and manganese-superoxide dismutase. Microb Cell Fact. 2013;12(1):1–9. DOI: 10.1186/1475-2859-12-23.
• World Health Organization. Guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater - Volume 4. 2013. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9241546859. Accessed 9 September 2023.

Privacy policy

Lebanon Takes a Step in Addressing Water Pollution

• This page in:

Peter S. Germanos is the former head judge for the military court of Lebanon, is a professor of law at Saint Joseph University.

Samara Azzi is a venture capitalist based in Geneva. 

International cooperation and support—with appropriate safeguarding measures to prevent the misappropriation of funds—are crucial for Lebanon to effectively combat environmental degradation and work toward a more sustainable future.

For decades, Lebanon has suffered under a systematic and intentional mismanagement of country resources and capital, with devastating repercussions. Poverty rates in Lebanon have skyrocketed, and the healthcare and education systems have crumbled, leaving millions vulnerable.

Less discussed but no less dangerous is the environmental degradation that the country ’ s elite have allowed to occur. Lebanon’s deteriorating environment adds another layer of tragedy to the widespread economic crisis; sewage contaminates drinking water, generators spew toxic fumes, excessive groundwater usage renders it saline, and irrigation with sewage water contaminates agricultural produce. The price for Lebanese is becoming increasingly well documented. Cancer cases have surged , and the Lebanese people can expect to continue to suffer in the future as well. 

This situation was not, however, a foregone conclusion, or due solely to global climate change outside of Lebanese control. Rather, Lebanon ’ s significant environmental degradation is due in large part to systemic corruption and a total lack of effective regulation. Understanding the scope of this issue is vital to realizing what the people of Lebanon are facing, along with developing a plan to address some of these interconnected environmental and governance challenges.

Lebanon’s Generator Problem

Case in point is Lebanon’s ubiquitous reliance on generators to bridge the gap between the state’s limited electricity generation and Lebanese electricity needs. Daily, Lebanon’s electricity shuts off, leaving residents in a moment of darkness before private generators—often owned by corrupt businessman–take over. The resulting pollution interacts with numerous facets of Lebanon’s environmental degradation, and helps highlight how interconnected these issues are.

Fossil Fuels and Climate Change: Lebanon, like the rest of the world, is experiencing the impacts of climate change. This includes rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events. These changes can exacerbate existing man-made environmental issues and pose additional challenges for the country. The burning of fossil fuels in generators releases carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Lebanon's heavy reliance on generators adds to the overall carbon footprint of the country and exacerbates global climate challenges. This dependence on fossil fuels not only exposes the country to global energy market fluctuations and supply chain disruptions, but it makes transitioning to greener sources of energy nearly impossible.

Waste Management Issues : Lebanon has struggled with proper waste management for years, leading to the accumulation of garbage in many areas. Due to unpredictable blackouts and soaring fuel prices, generators have become the only reliable source of energy for many Lebanese citizens. The regular use of generators results in the accumulation of waste products such as used oil, filters, and other components. In the absence of proper disposal mechanisms and recycling facilities, this waste can contribute to environmental degradation and pose challenges for waste management. This can have long-term environmental consequences, affecting the quality of water resources and posing risks to ecosystems and human health. This issue became a rallying call in 2015-2016 during the “ You Stink” anticorruption protests, and again during the 2019 movement, yet Lebanon ’ s waste management issues remain unaddressed.

Air Pollution: Lebanon's air quality has been severely affected by factors such as vehicle emissions, industrial activities, and the widespread use of generators during power shortages. These pollutants can cause respiratory problems, cancer, and other health issues in humans and animals.

Moreover, generators create significant noise pollution, impacting both urban and rural environments. Prolonged exposure to high levels of noise can lead to stress, sleep disturbances, and other health issues for individuals living in close proximity to these generators.

Deforestation: Lebanon has faced deforestation due to illegal logging, urbanization, and agricultural expansion. Trees play a vital role in maintaining ecological balance, and their loss can lead to soil erosion, disrupted water cycles, and reduced biodiversity. Lebanon ’ s cedar forests were once a point of pride and an ecological landmark, with a history spanning thousands of years. Now, the Lebanese cedar tree is listed as vulnerable, and is threatened by man-made forest fires and a black market for cedar wood fuel. Lebanon ’ s increasingly cost-prohibitive fuel market and lack of access to reliable electric heating sources has driven increased deforestation as a means to provide basic fuel and survive winter temperatures, which in turn will further erode the resources available for future generations.

Lebanon’s Dwindling Resources: Water and Land Degradation

Lebanon’s generators are but one facet of the country’s pollution problem. Just as worrying is the significant degradation of the country’s natural resources, once an important feature of the Lebanese economy and sense of identity. Lebanon's bodies of water, including rivers and coastal areas, now suffer from pollution due to illegal ground wells, untreated sewage, industrial discharges, and agricultural runoff. This pollution poisons aquatic life and contaminates drinking water sources. In addition to pollution, Lebanon’s marine environments now face pressures from overfishing. Depletion of the country’s fish stocks threatens the delicate balance of marine ecosystems while carrying dire economic implications for local fishermen.

On land, the situation is equally bleak. Unsustainable agricultural practices, including overgrazing and improper irrigation, have led to widespread land degradation. This improper stewardship of arable land results in reduced agricultural productivity, loss of biodiversity, and increased vulnerability to natural disasters like landslides and floods.  Addressing these challenges requires good governance and a comprehensive approach, including the implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, promoting sustainable practices in agriculture and industry, investing in waste management infrastructure, and raising awareness among the public about the importance of environmental conservation.

While Lebanon has numerous NGOs, few focus on environmental concerns, and in several cases when international efforts to coordinate with local NGOs have been attempted, there have been several cases of this money siphoned off due to the country’s rampant corruption. Nevertheless, international cooperation and support—with appropriate safeguarding measures to prevent the misappropriation of funds—are crucial for Lebanon to effectively combat environmental degradation and work toward a more sustainable future.

Recommended

• Steven C. Bondy
• Sheikh Abdulla bin Rashid Al Khalifa

• Ghaith al-Omari

• Abdullah Hayek
• Sary Mumayiz

Regions & Countries

Stay up to date.

• DOI: 10.26719/emhj.24.029
• Corpus ID: 268020746

River water pollution in Lebanon: the country's most underestimated public health challenge.

• Carolla El Chamieh , Claudia El Haddad , +6 authors Elie Bou Sanayeh
• Published in Eastern Mediterranean health… 25 February 2024
• Environmental Science
• Eastern Mediterranean health journal = La revue de sante de la Mediterranee orientale = al-Majallah al-sihhiyah li-sharq al-mutawassit

Figures and Tables from this paper

43 References

Factors influencing development of management strategies for the abou ali river in lebanon i: spatial variation and land use., occurrence, distribution, and ecological risk assessment of emerging and legacy contaminants in the kadicha river in lebanon, water quality assessment of lebanese coastal rivers during dry season and pollution load into the mediterranean sea., characterization of spatial and temporal patterns in surface water quality: a case study of four major lebanese rivers, rivers of lebanon: significant water resources under threats, global water pollution and human health, state of art about water uses and wastewater management in lebanon, nationwide assessment of water quality in rivers across lebanon by quantifying fecal indicators densities and profiling antibiotic resistance of escherichia coli.

• Highly Influential

Assessment of water quality along a recreational section of the Damour River in Lebanon using the water quality index

Microbiological quality and contamination level of water sources in isiolo county in kenya, related papers.

Showing 1 through 3 of 0 Related Papers

Share this Story

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on FlipBoard (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)

Ep. 60: Cascading Effects of Pollution in Lebanon’s Litani River

This month: the beqaa valley river’s decline has far-reaching impacts — and is fueling a blame game in the region..

Top: Waste is pictured in the waters of the Litani River as it crosses by the village of Jib Jannine in the southern Bekaa Valley on May 4, 2019. Visual: Joseph Eid / AFP via Getty Images

• Apple Podcasts

W elcome to The Undark Podcast. In this episode, join Julia Terradot and this month’s host Lacy Roberts as they discuss the decline of one of Lebanon’s most important waterways — and the impact of shifting blame on efforts to clean it up.

Below is the full transcript of the podcast, lightly edited for clarity. You can also subscribe to The Undark Podcast at Apple Podcasts , TuneIn , or Spotify .

Mohammad Yazbik (Translated from Arabic): I remember that we used to go swimming and we would wash the sheep in it … and have a picnic under the trees. [I remember] the greenery and the clean water, and there was fish … we’d catch fish.

Julia Terradot: This is Mohammad Yazbik, he’s deputy mayor of Haouch El Rafqa, a village downstream from the Litani River. The Litani is about 106 miles long and is one of the most important water sources in Lebanon. It produces hydroelectric power and water for drinking and irrigation to the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon’s primary agricultural region.

Mohammad Yazbik (Translated from Arabic): Now it’s open running sewers.

Julia Terradot: Yazbik grew up in the village with his family. He and many other people living along the Litani say the water quality has plummeted dramatically over the last 20 years. They blame the river for various health issues. In Yazbik’s village, there are about 10,000 Lebanese residents, without counting people in the refugee camps nearby. He says there are more than 10 deaths a year and that many people had cancer. And the villagers are getting worried.

Mohammad Yazbik (Translated from Arabic): They told me “We don’t dare to go to the hospital, because we don’t want to be shocked with [a doctor telling us] you have cancer.”

[Intro music]

Lacy Roberts: This is the Undark Podcast. I’m your host, Lacy Roberts. This is a story of anti-refugee sentiment, government inaction, and the cascading environmental and social effects that happen when a once pure river becomes polluted. Julia Terradot has the story.

Nassrallah el-Hajj (Translated from Arabic): The death of fish started suddenly. There was more than one possibility we arrived at, it was either poisoning or due to pollution in the water.

Julia Terradot: This is Nassrallah el-Hajj, who works for the Litani River Authority, or LRA, the public institution that supervises anything that has to do with the Litani River. In April of 2021, el-Hajj and his colleagues found more than 44 tons of dead fish on Lake Qaraoun — that’s Lebanon’s largest artificial lake. It is unclear exactly how the fish died, but el-Hajj suspects many factors that include pollution of the lake. This is not the first time pollution has had such devastating consequences on the Litani’s reservoir.

Back in July 2016, there was another surge of dead fish that surfaced on lake Qaraoun overnight. And three years later, the lake turned bright green when pollution and high temperatures led to an increase in cyanobacteria, an alga that can harm marine life and may be linked with an increased risk of liver cancer.

Maha Daher (Translated from Arabic): We can’t breathe at night, and if you close the windows and turn on the fans, you’d still wake up with an unbearable smell in the house.

Julia Terradot: This is Maha Daher. She was born and raised in Bar Elias, a village in the Beqaa bordering the Litani River. She lives with her husband Ibraheem and her daughter Etab just a few houses away from her family’s home. My colleague Majd Ibraheem and I spoke to Maha about her family’s health issues that the Litani might have caused.

Maha Daher (Translated from Arabic): I have cancer, and my daughter has a disease called bahjat, we’re still trying to treat her. But our life is getting harder and harder. And my husband has diabetes and blood pressure problems [and other diseases,] and the only support we have is God’s.

Julia Terradot: We met Maha through the village mayor in Bar Elias. Discussing cancer can still be taboo in the region, but Maha felt it was important to speak out. She told us she had multiple cancers and surgeries. Her daughter Etab’s disease, Behcet’s syndrome , is a rare condition that causes blood vessel inflammation in the body. It’s very painful.

Maha Daher (Translated from Arabic): My treatment is expensive, and we only have my husband’s income.

Julia Terradot: Maha’s family lives in extreme poverty. They take turns to go to the doctors, whenever they can gather enough money.

Maha Daher (Translated from Arabic): And she says, “My dad needs to be medically treated before me.” And I say, “My daughter needs to be medically treated before me.” And we push it onto each other. But in the end, none of us do, because we don’t have any money.

Julia Terradot: In Lebanon, families like Maha’s are hit the hardest in the economic crisis. The crisis had already started when the global pandemic hit. And then last year, on August 4, 2020, there was an explosion that destroyed parts of its capital, Beirut. Now there are fuel and medicine shortages and terrible inflation — the lira, Lebanon’s currency, keeps decreasing in value. In September 2021, the U.N. estimated that about 74 percent of Lebanese people live below the poverty line. For Maha’s family, it means they can’t afford medicine or pay their bills as their health declines.

Majd Ibraheem (Translated from Arabic): Do you have any idea what the cause is?

Maha Daher (Translated from Arabic): It’s the river.

Julia Terradot: Local residents believe the polluted water is causing a variety of health concerns. But it’s a challenge to prove a causal relationship, and there hasn’t been enough completed research in the region. Dr. Ismail Sukkarieh, a gastroenterologist and former MP living between his practice in the Beqaa and Beirut, is one person who tried to study this.

Ismail Sukkarieh: Every weekend, for 25 years, every weekend, summer and winter, except when I’m outside Lebanon, I go to my village in North Beqaa, it’s not so far, to take clinically of sick patients free of charge.

Julia Terradot: When he was working in Zahlé, Beqaa’s capital and largest city, he started to notice something strange in his patients. In about six or seven months, he saw eight cases of stomach cancers. And the cases kept rising. So in 2001, he decided to start a small study with some students from the Lebanese University. He lost funding, so he started again in 2016 with the American University of Beirut (AUB). Funding stopped again, and he couldn’t conclude his study.

Ismail Sukkarieh: It needs declaring a health emergency in the region!

Julia Terradot: The pollution and the gravity of the situation were undeniable. There was sewage and garbage floating constantly on the river. To explain the pollution, the LRA’s Nassrallah el-Hajj partly blames the same people politicians, and the media, are focusing on.

Nassrallah el-Hajj (Translated from French): They put the refugees just by the river. All of their waste is thrown on the water.

Julia Terradot: This is a common narrative used in Lebanese media and political discourses against Syrian refugees, who are often held responsible for the deterioration of the Litani. Many Syrian refugees work in the fields around the Beqaa and live in makeshift habitations on the Litani’s banks that often don’t have proper sanitation or any organized way to dispose of waste. The settlements also use illegal piping to pump water or dispose of wastewater if there is no NGO oversight.

Nadim Farajalla: This is a growing perception that the Syrian refugees and the Palestinians, to a lesser extent, are taking our water, or they are polluting our water, and they’re competing with us for our water. And this is not a good omen because it is growing, it is not a sentiment that is passing.

Julia Terradot: This is Dr. Nadim Farajalla, the Climate Change and the Environment Program director at the American University of Beirut’s Issam Fares Institute. Since the Syrian war began in 2011, Lebanon has taken in the highest number of refugees per capita worldwide. There are more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees in the country. The sudden increase in population led to community tensions that politicians exploited. Refugees are often blamed nationwide for the issues the country faces.

Nadim Farajalla: Very few Syrians live in informal settlements — around 17 percent of those who came to Lebanon do that. But then that leaves 83 percent of anywhere between 1 to 2 million who have moved into Lebanon who live amongst homes. And this has increased the demand on water and the discharge of sewage water.

Julia Terradot: Overpopulation is often cited as the main burden in the presence of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Dr. Farajalla wants to focus on Syrians living in housing that is connected to the water systems.

Nadim Farajalla: But these people still need water, they use it, they flush toilets, they are connected to the network. Or if not, they are discharging illegally their sewage which ends up contaminating the sources.

Julia Terradot: According to him, the high demand on water either puts a lot of pressure on water treatment plants, already working overcapacity, or represents a risk of water contamination, because there is no oversight on this type of housing and their connections to the water networks.

Julia Terradot: The issue of water was there before, right?

Nadim Farajalla: Yes, yes, yes, yes, but it’s one more layer and sometimes the layers are thin, this is a thick and heavy layer. It is not inconsequential. … The potential for conflict is there and it is rising. And even between communities.

Julia Terradot: We’re also looking at the narrative against the refugees that live by the banks. It’s the narrative that’s most central when you look into the pollution of the Litani River.

Marie-Hélène Nassif: Yeah, yeah completely, also this is a narrative that is used to justify the incompetence and the fact that the state did not do its job.

Julia Terradot: This is Dr. Marie-Hélène Nassif. She’s a water specialist and project coordinator for the ReWater MENA project at the International Water Management Institute. MENA stands for Middle East and North Africa and the project aims to improve the safety of water reuse in the region. Nassif wrote a paper on groundwater governance in the Beqaa.

Marie-Hélène Nassif: And not only the pollution, also the over-exploitation of the resources. Even if the Syrians were not there, the problem would not have been less serious in my opinion.

Julia Terradot: The discourse against Syrians has real consequences. According to reporting by Al Jazeera in April 2019, the LRA had evicted about 1,500 Syrian refugees from informal settlements on the Litani River banks so far that year, as part of an anti-pollution drive. Sami Alawieh, LRA’s director, as quoted by Al Jazeera, said: “I will remove the Syrians or the Lebanese or anyone polluting the river. I would do it again if I find more refugees.”

According to Nassif, this distracts from the responsibility of other actors.

Nassrallah el-Hajj (Translated from Arabic): On top of all that, all the farms on the riverbanks from Baalbek to here, dairy farms, cheese and yogurt packing plants, livestock farms with all their waste, dead animals, and all other trash are thrown in the river.

Julia Terradot: This is Nassrallah el-Hajj again. In the Beqaa, there are about 1,000 factories, according to Lebanon’s 2016 Official Guide of the Ministry of Industry , although the exact number is unknown because of the many unlicensed industries in the area. They release sewer water directly into the river, along with dead animals and dangerous chemicals.

Nassrallah el-Hajj (Translated from Arabic): Any factory has a budget plan, and there is filters and sedimentation ponds so that these hazardous materials wouldn’t reach the running water of the river.

Julia Terradot: Legally, factories are supposed to treat their own wastewater before dumping it into the environment since a 2012 decree . But there are disagreements between local authorities and the centralized government over the responsibility of checking that they do. On paper, water governance law clearly defines the responsibilities of each government entity’s roles around the protection of the Litani River. And while the country’s four regional water establishments are supposed to be responsible for waste management , they lack the capacity to take on this role fully — calling on third parties, such as municipalities and the Ministry of Energy and Water, to carry out that responsibility.

This is Assaad Zgheib, the mayor of Zahlé.

Assaad Zgheib: The Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Industry, they should have people that are responsible about checking if every factory is going by the law or not.

Julia Terradot: So, they’re not really checked regularly?

Assaad Zgheib: They should be checked regularly.

Julia Terradot: But they are not?

Assaad Zgheib: No, no. No.

Julia Terradot: The Ministry of Energy and Water puts the responsibility on municipalities and other ministries, while local municipalities in the Beqaa consider it a higher-level responsibility. As a result, most factories are not checked on. They are free to discard waste in the Litani with impunity, polluting not only the river but also the groundwater.

Souheil Rouphael: The first solution to treat the pollution in the Litani River is to make a lot of plants.

Julia Terradot: This is Souheil Rouphael, an engineer and head of the wastewater unit at the Beqaa Water Establishment, or BWE. The BWE oversees water treatment plants in the Beqaa. In the area, factories that don’t have their own waste treatment system sometimes redirect the waste to Rouphael’s treatment plants.

Souheil Rouphael: Our plants are designed to treat domestic wastewater and we are receiving industrial wastewater. That’s why you are facing a lot of problems in the process and the treating. We need every industry to make the primary treatment then release the wastewater to plants or in the river.

Julia Terradot: Do they do that?

Souheil Rouphael No. That’s the problem.

Julia Terradot: According to Rouphael, if the factories don’t direct their wastewater towards their plants, it goes in the river. So they take on some of the industrial waste to reduce pollution. Because of the amount of sewage water and their lack of resources, the plants can sometimes only treat up to 70 percent of the wastewater before releasing it to the Litani.

That was back in May of last year. Then in the summer, Rouphael and his colleagues at the plant faced another problem: electricity cuts.

Souheil Rouphael: We are still operating, but day by day, yani [you know]. Til now, the situation is 90 percent good, but we are scared. Yani , we still have a little bit of diesel, are operating on our generators but in the future, what to do. That’s what we don’t know. Because no diesel, no electricity, no money.

Julia Terradot: There hasn’t been consistent electricity in Lebanon since the civil war between 1975 and 1990. Most houses rely on private generators or neighborhood suppliers who charge an extra fee for electricity during the daily power cuts. Last summer, the country’s two major power plants, Deir Ammar and Zahrani, shut down . Private generators became the primary provider of electricity in the entire country. Soon the fuel shortages worsened, forcing suppliers to decide between total blackouts, power rationing, or heavy financial losses.

Julia Terradot: Do you think people realize the impact on the treatment plant?

Souheil Rouphael: I don’t think they know what’s happening now and what we’re facing in the future. They don’t know how wastewater plants work and operate and what the problems we are facing [are]. They don’t know. We need electricity 24 hours. Not one hour or two hours and OK, I can cut. No, I need electricity 24 hours. They don’t know the process.

Julia Terradot: When Majd and I spoke to Rouphael in August last year, he told us the treatment plants he operates in the Beqaa had at best six hours of government electricity per day. They need about 1,000 liters of diesel every day. That summer, that cost about 20 million lira, funded by local taxes. That’s up to $1,175, depending on exchange market rates.

In the long term, Rouphael hopes the plants will be able to run on solar energy. Some treatment plants are already partially equipped. None of them fully work on solar panels at this time.

Souheil Rouphael: You can operate about seven, eight, nine hours on solar panels, and the rest of the day you can use diesel. The plan [is] to work on all the generators when you have electricity cut. If we have diesel in our plants, so we can operate on generators.

Julia Terradot: But if you don’t have diesel?

Souheil Rouphael: (laughs) We have no solution. No electricity, no solar panel, and no diesel. How can we operate?

Julia Terradot: More than a third of the operational costs of all four water establishments in Lebanon go into electricity, according to a 2021 AUB study . This limits their capacity to treat water. It also makes access to water more difficult and expensive.

So far, Rouphael and his colleagues have avoided the total shutdown of the treatment plants in the Beqaa. If the plants stop working, Lebanon is facing an ecological catastrophe. The sewage water will accumulate in the treatment plants until it overflows, contaminating the rivers and the groundwater. And it could make people sick.

But contaminated water is already reaching people’s homes and the food they eat.

According to a report from 2019 by the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute, vegetables in the Beqaa show traces of mercury, arsenic, cadmium, chrome, and lead.

Historically in the Middle East, farmers have used sewage water when clean water wasn’t available. With the current crisis, Lebanon is facing water shortages. Access to treated water is more limited than ever.

Nadim Farajalla: Many, many, many homes rely on bottled water for drinking supply but we all shower, and brush our teeth, and cook and … so imagine if you’re bathing in contaminated water. In the shower you’ll get water in your mouth, you’ll get water in your eyes, in your ears. You might get different sorts of infections.

Julia Terradot: This is Farajalla again. Water pollution is not exclusive to the Beqaa. The Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute also found high levels of nitrate in surface water in the region. Nitrate is a nitrogen compound commonly used in fertilizers and explosives. While it’s found naturally in foods and produced by the human body, exposure to unusually high levels may increase cancer risk. Even if the water is treated when it leaves the plants, it runs through old pipes that could recontaminate it or come in contact with sewer water.

Julia Terradot: With the pollution and the more and more problems of water, how is it going to affect people’s health?

Nadim Farajalla: Availability of medicine being an issue, a simple dysentery which would have been treated by Flagyl, this antibiotic Flagyl, or any other antibiotic, which may not be available, this could be deadly. … hoarding of medicines, hoarding of fuel and making it unavailable to run treatment facilities, all of this. All these are human evil, human behavior.

When no medications are available, hospitals are running low on supplies, they’re running low on electricity, etcetera, then this becomes a major issue.

Julia Terradot: Wow. This is grim.

Nadim Farajalla: Yes, it is. But we try not to think of it too much.

Ismail Sukkarieh: You know, you are asking about the pollution of Litani basically, right? The worst and most dangerous kind of pollution, you know what in Lebanon? Political pollution, political pollution, it is the essence of everything, it controls everything.

Julia Terradot: This is Sukkarieh again, who attempted to prove the link between cancer and river pollution. He believes the link is evident, but that nothing is done because the powers in place don’t care enough.

Ismail Sukkarieh: One of the political powers, yani , was not interested in this. Because we were faced with difficulties, we didn’t, yani, seek seriously to continue. I mentioned it in my own way like I said now. But still you are in Lebanon. Even if you imagine it nothing will happen.

Julia Terradot: During interviews, people laughed or sighed at the idea of change in Lebanon.

Nassrallah El-Hajj (Translated from French): In Lebanon, nothing moves fast. They don’t even move. They don’t move. The Litani can’t wait for the ministries or Lebanese authorities’ action when fish die. It’s not a rock or a plastic bottle. It’s rotten fish. With the smell, the flies, the mosquitoes, the diseases.

Julia Terradot: This is Nassrallah El-Hajj again. He also felt that frustration with the Lebanese government. And then in 2018, Alawieh became the LRA director.

Nassrallah El-Hajj (Translated from Arabic): The method changed. At first, we used to say, “stop polluting.” With this administration, a completely different program is worked on.

Julia Terradot: Alawieh wasn’t afraid of politicians. Under his leadership, the LRA filed legal complaints against hundreds of factories around the river.

In October 2020, the Litani was blocked near Yazbik’s village, Haouch El Rafqa. It was filled with cow manure and dairy waste from the Liban Lait plant, one of Lebanon’s largest factories, also subsidized by the Lebanese government. Alawieh vowed publicly to sue the company and to put back the excrement on the company’s land.

The LRA’s actions were unprecedented. It gave people hope that change could be achieved for the better.

Marie-Hélène Nassif: The guy did a good job in terms of pointing the attention of the media on the Litani, and also he deposited a lot of complaints against industries that have been for years discharging pollutants without any treatment in the different rivers that feed the Litani. But again, in my opinion, this came too late.

Julia Terradot: This is Marie-Hélène Nassif again, questioning Alawieh’s intentions. The Ministry of Energy and Water is affiliated with the Freedom Patriotic Movement, or FPM, the same party as Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun. Alawieh became a director as part of the opponent party, Amal.

The FPM was making new projects and an agreement with the World Bank to build the Bisri Dam, supplied partly by Lake Qaraoun. It was a big project that drew a lot of attention to the FPM and expanded its influence. Even though the Bisri project was later canceled in 2020, Nassif believes that at the time, it was taking attention away from Alawieh’s Amal party. Alawieh wanted to regain the spotlight for his party and that meant seeking the legal responsibility of monitoring water pollution and taking on mediatized projects.

Marie-Hélène Nassif: My reading is they felt threatened, they felt they were losing power, so they used the problem of pollution to promote themselves. And it’s funny that it came at the same time where the others were getting power. So my personal reading is it’s more about competing with the other rather than really wanting to do something.

Julia Terradot: Nassif is from Hammana, a village in the Mount Lebanon region. In 2013, the Ministry of Energy and Water started building the Qaysamani Dam close to the village. Its goal was to store rain and snow water on the Mghiteh plateau to prevent seasonal water shortages. The plateau is in the protected zone of the Chaghour Spring. George Shahin, Hammana’s then-mayor, rounded up the entire village to protest the construction.

George Shahin (Translated from Arabic): Truth is that the dam was built despite our opposition, and no one is suffering the pollution of the groundwater except for people of Hammana. We used to drink from that groundwater and not buy water.

Julia Terradot: The Chaghour Spring provided Hammana with irrigation and drinking water. But the dam is built on porous soil and leaks stagnant water into the spring, polluting the water. It is also a very dangerous infrastructure for Hammana. The area is highly seismic. An earthquake could make the dam collapse and inundate the village.

The village fought against the project. People made posters, organized protests, even created a hashtag, #nodam. They blocked the main road leading to the construction site. Construction was stopped temporarily, but the dam was built anyway. This was a very difficult moment for Shahin.

George Shahin (Translated from Arabic): To us, the people of Hammana, the Chaghour water is like the blood in our veins, and we were very afraid for our water. And maybe I was too emotional about that.

Julia Terradot: During the protests, Shahin started having high blood pressure and heart problems. Two months after the campaign against the dam ended, he needed open-heart surgery.

George Shahin (Translated from Arabic): Unfortunately, we know the situation of Lebanese people today. No one is thinking of anything else other than putting food on the table. Who’s still thinking about water pollution or the destruction of land or agriculture or architecture? Today everyone is looking to make ends meet and no one is thinking of anything else.

Julia Terradot: With the rampant corruption and years of stagnation, people hope that help will come from abroad. Yet for decades, international donors and investors have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into fighting pollution through Lebanon’s Council for Development and Reconstruction, or CDR, with little results. The CDR implemented the Qaysamani Dam project, accepting a $17 million Kuwaiti loan.

According to Nassif, foreign investors invested without considering the local terrain. Whether the sewage treatment facilities were connected to a sewage network or if the municipalities had enough qualified employees and electrical power to operate facilities didn’t matter. The Lebanese government still received loans through the CDR for these projects, with no visible improvement.

Marie-Hélène Nassif: They’re also benefiting from this, the international donors. They are giving loans with interest rates even if it’s low interest rates, but still. They’re making their administration function, they’re hiring people, they’re making money out of all this, they’re promoting themselves as countries, or as institutions, or as international organizations. So everyone had something to gain, to win out of this.

Julia Terradot: Despite these massive investments, the pollution kept getting worse. In July 2016, the same month tons of dead fish surfaced on Lake Qaraoun, the World Bank had approved a $55 million loan for a project to reduce the amount of untreated sewage going into the Litani and to reduce pollution in the lake, supposed to end in June 2023. As of September 2021, the World Bank rated the Overall Implementation Progress as “Moderately Satisfactory.”

Marie-Hélène Nassif: You know, we wouldn’t have reached this point if things were not as badly managed as they are. Nothing can change if the whole political system does not change. It’s a long way. I think that research and information and communicating all this contributes to raising awareness and to bringing awareness of the young generations around these issues. Yani , it’s a small contribution but I think that’s big also.

Majd Ibraheem: It’s essential.

Marie-Hélène Nassif: It’s essential and it’s, yani , small initiatives coming together eventually will bring some progress. Hopefully.

Majd Ibraheem: Hopefully.

[Music, fade out]

Lacy Roberts: Thank you so much for being here, Julia.

Julia Terradot: Thank you for having me.

Lacy Roberts: So how important of a water resource is the Litani River in Lebanon?

Julia Terradot: So the Litani river is the widest and the longest river in Lebanon and it crosses it from the north to the south. And it’s very important for its national economy. Not just for the water needs of people around the basin, but also for social needs, industrial needs, and also energy needs and for the ecosystem. It crosses the Beqaa region of Lebanon, which is the most industrial region in the country. And so just in terms of irrigation, it’s hugely important because most of the vegetables and fruits and grains, and also livestock, is produced there.

So all the irrigation needs, if the Litani River is polluted, that water, that is essentially sewage water, goes into watering livestock and watering crops and the vegetables are then transported all over the country. So, it’s very important and virtually, most of the population in Lebanon, is affected by the Litani River, not just people living around. And also, the Litani River goes into the Mediterranean Sea. So, not just Lebanon, but also countries surrounding Lebanon and the Mediterranean are affected by the river and its pollution.

Lacy Roberts: Wow. So it just, it sounds like it is a crucial link to the ecological chain in Lebanon. Um, you talk a little bit about some local activism in Lebanon, in particular fighting against the Qaysamani Dam. Can you tell us a little bit more about the local activists you met and how they continue despite what they’re up against?

Julia Terradot: Uh, yes. So for the Qaysamani Dam specifically, um, we talked to George Shahin, who’s the former mayor of Hammana and he’s the one who’s behind the campaign to save Hammana and protect safe water. That was to prevent the construction of a dam. And the dam was eventually built, and there hasn’t been much update since 2017, except that pollution did rise in Hammana. And so, when we talked to George about his motivation to start his activism, it was very clear that he cared a lot about the environment and protecting the water and for the quality of life of inhabitants and for them to be able to access clean water. But it was also incredibly stressful and he got a lot of resistance from the government and he told us that the Lebanese Army came to take down posters, for example. And that after the dam was built anyway, he had a serious health issues. And now that talking about activism and Lebanon from his perspective, he doesn’t have a lot of hope in any kind of environmental protection.

But there’s also a different form of activism with young people. I actually talked recently to Amani Beainy. So she’s a legal researcher and a peace and environment activist, and she’s the co-founder of a national campaign to save the Bisri Valley.

So just for context, this was a campaign against the Bisri Dam project in the south governorate of Lebanon. And there was, in 2014, a loan co-financed by the World Bank of $474 million. And the dam was supposed to help with providing water during droughts in the summer. But activists and generally the Lebanese population was really worried about it polluting and destroying biodiversity.

It would have been built on a seismic area and it could have caused more risks for an earthquake, which would be very dangerous for the area. So there was a lot of uproar and demonstration protests and online campaigning and a lot of solidarity. And eventually the funds from the World Bank were frozen in April 2020, and then completely canceled in September 2020.

And so when I talked to Amani and her situation, she felt that it was a continuation of the 2019 protest of revolution in Lebanon. And it was an incredible feeling to have this victory because for her and young activists, the Bisri Dam represented a microcosm of corruption in Lebanon.

And it felt as a duty as a Lebanese citizen to continue her activism and to hope for change.

Lacy Roberts: That’s amazing. No, I’m very curious. What did Amani’s activism look like? What form did it take?

Julia Terradot: Basically she started simply by creating a Facebook group and she organized [an] online campaign and petition. Also something that was really important to her was the sentiment of solidarity. And so she organized with not just other activists, but also people from [the] legal profession and journalists to get a lot of news about the construction of this dam. But it was also at great cost because Amani told me that she put herself physically at risk for her campaigning and that because of her struggle, she eventually lost her job.

Lacy Roberts: Well, thank you so much for your reporting Julia, and thanks for being here.

Julia Terradot: Thank you so much. Bye.

Lacy Roberts: Julia Terradot is a reporter based in Lebanon. She’s interested in politics, society, and investigative journalism. This episode was co-reported and translated by Majd Ibraheem. Our theme music was produced by the Undark Team with additional music in today’s episode from Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to Jeff Jabbour, Nasser Saleh, Eva De Boer, Charbel Saadeh, Dr. Michel Afram, Dr. Karim Eid-Sabbagh, Dr. Raed Ezzeddine, Mahdi Wehbi, and Alexandre Mitri. I’m Lacy Roberts. See you next time.

Share This Story

The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Water pollution in lebanon reaching dangerous levels, activists and scientists are increasingly concerned about water pollution in lebanon and request action from the government, which has not acted on the urgent situation so far., subscribe for unlimited access.

All news, events, memos, reports, and analysis, and access all 10 of our newsletters. Learn more

Continue reading this article for free

Access 1 free article per month when you sign up. Learn more .

By signing up, you agree to Al-Monitor’s Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy . Already have an account? Log in

Related Articles

Why Lebanon's largest artificial lake is turning green

Farms, fisheries stagnate along Syria's polluted Orontes River

Egypt says cooperation continues with Ethiopia on Nile Basin projects

New urban forest planted to save Beirut's river

Water Resources of Lebanon

• © 2020
• Amin Shaban 0

National Council for Scientific Research, Beirut, Lebanon

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

• First comprehensive book on all water resources in Lebanon covering the entire country
• Includes separate chapters on each water-related theme
• Uses new tools (e.g. space techniques) and advanced methods
• Includes various Illustrations including colour photos, maps, cross-sections and satellite images
• Presents previously unreported measurements on water in Lebanon

Part of the book series: World Water Resources (WWR, volume 7)

4472 Accesses

21 Citations

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info
• Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

About this book

Water has become a challenging resource that many countries worldwide are concerned with. Thus, water is often linked with health, society development, national income and even international geo-politics. Sometimes, water resources are unavailable, but successful management involves developing approaches and projects to assure water supply. However, there are some countries with available water resources, but unsatisfactory management, and thus complain about water supply becoming a national problem. This situation is prevalent in Lebanon, a country characterized by abundant water resources whether on the surface or sub-surface.

It is a paradox that there is still imbalance in water supply/demand in Lebanon, and water resources are now under stress due to chaotic use. This has been exacerbated by the oscillating climatic conditions, increased population and improper management. Therefore, people receive less than one-third of their water needs, and most water supplied is ofpoor quality. The current status shows a descending trend. Undoubtedly, if the water sector in Lebanon continues this way, we should anticipate unfavourable (and may be severe) consequences.

Many studies have been conducted on water and related disciplines in Lebanon; however, all of them focus on specific themes and sometimes defined regions. Nevertheless, the occurred changes on the influencers (natural and man-made) have not been considered.

This book is the first of its type for Lebanon, and it shows all aspects of water resources with updated measurements and findings obtained by adopting new techniques. It diagnoses in-depth the major elements of water flow/storage mechanism that have never been covered in such a comprehensive manner before. Also, this book introduces and analyses the existing challenges and proposes solutions. It represents a comprehensive investigation of the water resources in Lebanon.

Similar content being viewed by others

Update, Conclusions, and Recommendations for Water Resources in Slovakia: Assessment and Development

Update, Conclusions, and Recommendations for “Water Resources Management in Balkan Countries”

Conclusions

Challenges on water resources.

• Climate Change
• Groundwater Resources
• Hydrology of Lebanon
• Proposed Measures

Table of contents (10 chapters)

Front matter, introduction.

Amin Shaban

Atmospheric Regime and Terrain Characteristics

Lakes and reservoirs, groundwater, proposed solutions, back matter, authors and affiliations, about the author.

Dr. Amin Shaban is a:

Director of Researcher at the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS-L) &

Professor at the Lebanese University.

Consultant for several international entities (e.g. UN-ESCWA, UNESCO, IHP, ENPI-CBCMES-European Commission, etc.)

He has a Master degree from the American University of Beirut, Ph.D. from Bordeaux-I University, and he has achieved a Fulbright Program in the United States, at Boston University. He is specialized in water resources management including the use of satellite images to study surface and subsurface water bodies, monitoring water systems, groundwater exploration, watershed management, climate change impact on water, as well as the influencers on water supply.

Dr. Shaban is the representative for Lebanon in many international programs, including the International Hydrological Program (IHP) and SDG-6. He is also committed as representative for many national committees. Moreover, heis a membership in different scientific assemblies, such as American Geophysical Union (AGU) and International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS). Dr. Shaban has been given several honorary awards, such as the Award for Career Excellence in Scientific Research and Award of Distinguished Researchers; Award of Best Arab Researcher in Integrated Water Resources Management.

Dr. Shaban has more than 60 Publications in International Journals, as well as published in more than 50 International proceedings, a number of scientific books on water resources, and produced several book chapters and produced many technical studies. Dr. Shaban has been the Principal Investigator for more than 15 research projects and participated in more than 25 projects. He has a teaching experience of more than 15 years, and supervised many Master and Ph.D. dissertations.

Bibliographic Information

Book Title : Water Resources of Lebanon

Authors : Amin Shaban

Series Title : World Water Resources

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48717-1

Publisher : Springer Cham

eBook Packages : Earth and Environmental Science , Earth and Environmental Science (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

Hardcover ISBN : 978-3-030-48716-4 Published: 07 July 2020

Softcover ISBN : 978-3-030-48719-5 Published: 07 July 2021

eBook ISBN : 978-3-030-48717-1 Published: 06 July 2020

Series ISSN : 2509-7385

Series E-ISSN : 2509-7393

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XIII, 229

Number of Illustrations : 27 b/w illustrations, 60 illustrations in colour

Topics : Water, general , Environmental Management , Ecology , Pollution, general , Monitoring/Environmental Analysis

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

• Country Menu
• Publications
• Privacy Statement
• Saudi-Arabia

Search on Fanack Water

Water quality in lebanon.

Surface water quality

Surface water quality varies widely between different rivers, between seasons and depending on the river flow. In general, river pollution levels are highest during the summer when the river flow and dilution are lowest. However, the pollution load is still high during the winter.

The main sources of pollution are domestic wastewater, solid waste and point source contamination from industrial, health care and tourist facilities and quarries. Non-point sources such as agricultural runoff are also considered a major source of pollution around agricultural areas (mainly in the Bekaa Valley).

The different pollutants lead to different types of contamination. For example, microbiological contamination has been documented in 11 rivers ( Orontes , El Kabir, Bared, Arka, Abou Ali, Ibrahim, Antelias, Beirut, Damour, Awali and Litani), which is mainly due to the discharge of untreated domestic wastewater. In addition, high biochemical oxygen demand and nutrient levels have been reported in most surface water bodies. Moreover, although not well studied, heavy metals such as copper, zinc, strontium, chromium and nickel have been found in El Kabir River in North Lebanon. [1]

The Litani River is seen as a principal component in Lebanon ’s socio-economic development. This is attributed to its geographic location, its extent from the interior to the coastal region and the diverse topographic surfaces it crosses. Despite this significance, the river suffers from high levels of pollution. The Qaraoun Dam, the biggest dam in Lebanon, is located on the river and divides it into two parts. The Upper Litani Basin is estimated to receive around 45.5 MCM of domestic wastewater and 3.7 MCM of industrial wastewater, which is discharged untreated into the river. Moreover, since the river runs through the middle of the Bekaa Valley, a major agricultural area, pollution resulting from extensive application of pesticides and herbicides (up to twice the recommended values) and fertilizers (three times more than recommended) is widely reported in the river. [2]

The coastal zone is also widely impacted by pollution and the discharge of untreated wastewater and solid waste. It is estimated that around 65% of the total domestic wastewater generated is discharged into the sea through 53 outflow points along the coast.

Groundwater quality

Groundwater quality in Lebanon has been deteriorating because of overabstraction and anthropogenic pollution. Over abstraction in coastal areas is leading to seawater intrusion, which is affecting the main groundwater aquifers. [2]

In agricultural areas, nitrate pollution is recognized as a major threat to the groundwater resources. This is mainly reported in the Bekaa Valley.

Moreover, the karstic nature of the groundwater aquifers puts them at a higher risk of bacterial pollution, which is partly linked to the lower soil filtration rates. Out of 31 sampled points along the coast, 17 had higher-than-average levels of faecal coliforms. [2]

Sanitation and wastewater treatment network

According to the NWSS 2010, Lebanon produced around 310 MCM of wastewater, of which 250 MCM were domestic and 60 MCM were industrial. [2] Of the total generated wastewater, it was estimated that only 8% was treated, although around 60% of the population was connected to a sewage collection network, [2] with the majority of these networks discharging untreated wastewater into rivers and coastal areas. It is estimated that more than 53 wastewater outfalls exist along the coastline. [1] Regions that are not covered by wastewater networks mainly depend on septic tanks and cesspits that pose a high pollution risk to groundwater due to seepage. A major reason for the low rate of wastewater treatment is the lack of connectivity between the existing sewage networks and the operational treatment plants. [2] It is estimated that out of the households connected to the wastewater network, less than 30% actually reach any of the operational treatment plants. [3] In addition, factors such as a lack of electricity, trained personal and financial capacity to operate these facilities also contribute to the problem. Based on this, the discharge of untreated domestic and industrial wastewater is widespread across Lebanon and is considered a major source of water quality degradation for the coastal, surface water and groundwater resources.

Environmental and health risks

The low water quality in most of Lebanon’s water resources poses major risks to the environment and public health. These risks are already evident, with instances of waterborne diseases including dysentery, hepatitis A, leishmaniosis and typhoid, which mainly affect children. [4]

Moreover, fishing has been banned from Lake Qaraoun, a reservoir on the Litani River, since 2018. In 2021, around 40 tonnes of dead fish washed up on the shore of the lake – not for the first time. The catastrophe was attributed to severe pollution from domestic, industrial and toxic waste discharged into the river, which accumulates in the reservoir. Hyper-eutrophication, low phytoplankton biodiversity and regular blooms of toxic cyanobacteria have been reported in the reservoir. [2] In addition, total coliform concentration often exceeds 5,000 col/100 ml and the nutrient percentage is eight times over the international guidelines. [5]

[1] MoEW (Ministry of Energy and Water), 2010. National Water Sector Strategy . [2] MoE (Ministry of Environment), 2020. Lebanon State of the Environment and Future Outlook: Turning the Crises into Opportunities (SoER 2020) . With UNHCR, UNICEF and UNDP. [3] Government of Lebanon and United Nations, 2019. Lebanon Crisis Response Plan 2017-2020 (2019 update) . [4] UNICEF Lebanon, n.d. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Program . [5] Shaban, A and Nassif, N, 2007. ‘ Pollution in Qaraaoun lake, Central Lebanon .’ Journal of Environmental Hydrology 15: 1-14. [6] Reuters, 2021. ‘ Tonnes of dead fish wash up on shore of polluted Lebanese lake .’ Published 30 April 2021.

Related Topics

• Terms & Privacy Policy
• باللغة العربية

Water Pollution in Lebanon

Jan 10 2016

Dr Nagi Safa

cancer , health

Lebanon unlike most other Middle Eastern countries is blessed with an abundant supply of annual rainfall. The bad news is that most of Lebanon water sources is polluted and unfit for domestic use. This article will consider the various factors responsible for water pollution in Lebanon.

Untreated Sewage

One of the major contaminants of water sources in Lebanon is untreated sewage . According to a study, 70% of all fresh water sources were exposed to untreated sewage from various homes and business premises. Among this sewage were also industrial effluents. This has led to a significant microbial contamination of the water aside the significant alteration in the color of the water. This development has made most of the fresh water found in Lebanon unfit for domestic use. The northern city of Tripoli is the region with the highest reported cases of fresh water contamination. On the other hand, the Nahr Ibrahim River and Litani River are regarded as the two most polluted rivers in Lebanon. Another sad incidence is the restriction of the use of the Qaraoun Lake for fishing because of an overwhelming presence of heavy metal from industrial effluents. Practically all rivers in Lebanon suffer the consequences of dumped industrial waste.

Industrial effluent into the sea

Another type of water contamination in Lebanon is Industrial effluents into the sea. According to a recent survey, it was discovered that the seawater had a high incidence of chemical contamination. A research discovered that 30% of all fish caught off the coast of Lebanon had plastic in their stomach. This is due to the illegal dumping of plastic wastes into the sea by industries. More so, a recent study concluded that plastic contaminants were encountered under water of the Lebanese shore. In addition, disposed oil from ships and wastes are also part of the causes of water pollution in Lebanon.

Water pollution in Lebanon from agrochemicals

Another source of water pollution in Lebanon is the use of fertilizers and pesticides . Farmers in Lebanon use pesticides and fertilizers without conformity with government regulation. At a point, the government was able to put in place an effective protocol to curb the abuse of fertilizers and pesticides. However, Government efforts to regulate agricultural activities to prevent pollution suffered serious setbacks.

Water pollution from improperly disposed solid waste

Another cause of water pollution in Lebanon is that solid waste are improperly disposed into water sources. This occurrence prompted Lebanon’s Ministry of Environment to issue a waste management directive putting an end to the use of incineration. This is because when solid wastes are incinerated, the particles remaining are carried by flood to contaminate fresh water sources when heavy rain falls. Nevertheless the robust regulation that had been instituted to combat indiscriminate disposal of solid waste was inefficient, and the practice continued. Solid wastes are still being incinerated all over the municipalities, causing water pollution when rainfalls and carrying wastes into rivers lakes and other freshwater sources. At a point, the Government suggested recycling as one of the ways of putting an end to the menace of indiscriminate dumping of solid wastes. However, the recycling initiative of the government backfired, as it became a haven of scavengers who use little children to pick up scrap of metals and plastic.

Landfilling

Landfilling is another cause of water pollution in Lebanon. Lebanon produces over 150 tons of waste daily. One of the usual ways of disposing this waste is by land filling them. The consequence of this is that when rain falls, the liquid part of the waste are carried by flood to cause pollution of fresh water sources.

Historically, the government of Lebanon took several steps and instituted numerous reforms to fight water pollution. Because of the political situation, these reforms were never instituted.

Lebanon: A Paradise of Waste and Pollution

• العربية ( Arabic )

Khaled Suleiman

In order to breathe unpolluted air in Lebanon, you either need to go and stand on top of some mountain or simply leave the country. But in the city, forget it.

  In order to breathe unpolluted air in Lebanon, you either need to go and stand on top of some mountain or simply leave the country. But in the city, forget it. Beirut’s streets are lined with sad, orphan trees, living in isolation and fighting heat and thirst. The lack of oxygen affects them a lot more severely than it does humans because they are planted in and surrounded by concrete. They breathe car exhaust.

According to the World Health Organization, Beirut’s pollution has already exceeded environmental standards three times. Numbeo, the world’s largest database of user contributed data about cities and countries worldwide, ranks Lebanon the 6th most polluted country in the world, preceded only by Mongolia, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Ghana and Bangladesh. Lebanon’s pollution index is 87.65 %, exceeding that of Nigeria, Egypt and China.

Lebanese activists have sounded alarms over the construction of waste incinerators inside their city. Through the International Platform for Change, they launched the slogan, “No to Incinerators.” Local environmentalists warn that power generators, traffic jams, lack of industrial waste monitoring, and the mismanagement of all environment-related issues, are all contributing factors to the ever-worsening disaster, which has turned into a public health crisis and especially affects children. While incinerators are safely operated in cities of developed countries, activists are not so sure it would be so in Lebanon. In their statement, they declare that, over the past decades, when tasks were much less complicated, the government was never able to effectively monitor waste management, enforce the implementation of the law, and bring to justice those who break it. “The state has thus repeatedly failed to avoid the current collapse in environment and health standards.”

Lebanon produces 6500 tons of solid waste per day, half of which is organic

  The statement further warns that installing the proposed waste incinerators in the neighborhood of al-Mudawar and al-Quarantina will subject children from all surrounding areas, like Burj-Hamud, Ashrafieh, Sin-el-fil, Hazmiye, Jdeida, to carcinogenic pollutants on a daily basis. These findings are the result of a study conducted by Dr. Issam al-Laqis of the American University of Beirut, which tested a sample of pollutants as they are emitted from a flue, and tracked their transmission through the air across those areas.

Of all the myriad air and water pollutants, the human element remains the most destructive, especially the waste sector, which the ministry of environment, based on data from 2011, concedes is responsible for 11% of the total greenhouse emissions in Lebanon. The sector, including wastewater, is also the largest source of methane gas emissions in the country, accounting for 87.5% of total national emissions. Methane, like carbon dioxide and other gases, is a greenhouse gas. The solid waste management methods are still primitive. According to the ministry, solid waste is responsible for the highest percentage, 94.3%, of waste emissions. Local municipalities produce about 1.56 million tons of solid waste each year.

As for the energy recovery process, it is almost non-existent in Lebanon. According to a 2018 government statement, Lebanon produces 6500 tons of solid waste per day, half of which is organic. 50% of this waste is haphazardly dumped in landfills and 35% is buried in Burj-Hammoud, at the confluence of the rivers Ghadir and Zahleh, and finally, only 15% is recycled. However, the data on the so-called “sanitary burial” cannot be verified, due to the difficulty of sorting the waste before dumping it in the landfill, not to mention that burying itself is not a sanitary solution either. In a country that lacks an ecological strategy that classifies landfills, organic waste is mixed with plastic, batteries and electronics. Toxic material thus leaks and endangers fertilizers, rivers and freshwater sources.

In addition to its household garbage, this tiny country produces 50000 tons of hazardous industrial chemicals each year ranging from electronic waste, expired medicine and other health institutions’ waste, used oils, batteries and tires, persistent organic pollutants, in addition to waste resulting from the olive oil industry, slaughterhouses, and the demolition and construction sites. In the absence of a proper environmental management, these materials are disposed of at random. Add to it all that the huge number of old cars and public transportation vehicles all over the Lebanese roads, which produce a large amount of carbon because they have been overused over many years.

The high pollution levels in Lebanon are man-made, then. Politicians bear the responsibility for the crisis. To understand the picture today, one need only look back at 2015 when Beirut’s streets were filled with rubbish that the government would not pick up for months.

Not that there is any difference between the stench of unpicked street garbage and the smoke emanating from incinerators. It all just stinks.

This article was produced with the support of Rosa Luxembourg Stiftung. 

Our most recent articles

Fathers Marrying Off Their Daughters to Relieve Worries of Displacement in Gaza

How Have the Houthis Taken Advantage of the Gaza War to Recruit Children?

Catastrophic Environmental Crimes: Israel’s Use of Water as a Weapon of War

What Does Al-Sistani’s Silence on Child Marriage Mean?

Oppressing Civil Society: The Compounded War in Yemen

Our most read articles, “cyprus confidential”: a safe haven for salim sfeir, the head of the association of lebanese banks and the obstructionist of lebanon’s recovery plan, the mysterious billionaire who “saved” lebanon’s bankmed with an audi bank loan, lebanon: “gang leader” marwan kheireddine and his offshore companies, lebanese honorary consuls: a shortcut to money laundering and illicit financing, “dubai unlocked”: 10 individuals within assad’s close circle hide 50 million dollars in dubai estates, subscribe to our newsletter, share on mastodon.

Meera Shamma • 03 Jul 2018

Lebanon’s waters: polluted, toxic, and dangerous to swim in.

Summertime in Lebanon usually entails a lot of sunshine and time spent by (and in) the sea. But Lebanese people are starting to take notice of a dangerous toxic blanket that now impedes their usual sea-filled summer habits. The grey, murky, smelly blanket of trash that we’ve witnessed slowly but surely cover the Lebanese coastline over the past few years has finally taken its toll on our once blue sea.

In 2015, a study was conducted by Lebanon’s Center for Marine Science. The report revealed a daunting reality but one that we all knew was coming, that Lebanon’s coastline is highly polluted – specifically near Lebanon’s most major landfills. Since then, the situation has gotten much, much worse.

Articles by Lebanon’s main daily newspapers like The Daily Star and Al Akhbar warn the Lebanese public not to swim in the sea, not just by the country’s landfills, but anywhere off of Lebanon’s coast. The Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) released a report in 2017 stating that every single one of Lebanon’s bodies of water – from the sea to lakes, rivers, and streams – are polluted with varying toxicity, but all toxic to some degree.

So toxic, in fact, the increasing bacteria levels in areas of Lebanon’s coast are over 100 times the safe limit and would warrant the closure of public beaches with the same levels of pollution in The States. Michel Afram, head of the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute even told The National that “the government must declare a state of emergency for water quality in Lebanon.”

LARI’s 2017 report noted that pollution levels in all of Lebanon’s waters were dangerously high, especially in areas near landfills – like Jounieh, Saida, and Ramlet el Baida. But, by nature, if the water is polluted in one area, the current will carry it elsewhere, meaning that virtually no area of Lebanon’s sea is safe to swim in, let alone live by. Tripoli, Tyre, Dbayeh, and Chekka follow up second in terms of water pollution levels, and other areas, like Batroun, Jbeil, Jiyyeh, and Dammour are the ‘least polluted’ on the list, but still highly polluted nonetheless.

Waters are showing positive results for high levels of metals, chemicals and bacteria – mixing together in the Mediterranean to create a hazardous mass of water. All the result of different (avoidable) causes, from untreated human waste being purged into the sea constantly, to agricultural and industrial dumping, to overfilled landfills burdening the coast, to the government’s incredible reluctance to introduce effective means of waste management, to the public’s general disregard towards pollution and the importance of taking care of the environment.

So, what are the implications of taking a dip? Lebanon’s coastal waters have shown alarming levels of metals (like mercury, lead, and copper) among other forms of hazardous bacteria. If ingested, these elements can cause immediate poisoning, and in the long-run can even lead to cancer. There have been numerous cases of people claiming to have swam in the sea recently only to emerge with instant rashes on their bodies as a result. And, although everyone has been warned not to jump in, those with open wounds, cuts, or scratches, are specifically warned not to go anywhere near it.

The worst case scenario is upon us in Lebanon. We have poisoned our own sea to the extent that the sea is now poisoning us. LARI’s 2018 report will be released soon, and we can only predict the horrors that the report will expose. Until then, those who seek to take a summer break and head to the shore are now considered careless rebels rather than summertime revelers – because they’re literally swimming in their own toxic shit.

Main image courtesy of Lebanon Eco Movement

Blog 09 Sep 2024

New nightclub for teens sparks buzz on social media, blog 06 sep 2024, finally, pinkberry is reopening in lebanon, blog 05 sep 2024, sushi lovers, forget flowers...here's a sushi bouquet, blog 03 sep 2024, reactions to riad salame getting arrested, want to read all our old content jump in this time machine feature, for the first time in lebanon: locally produced cherry wine, lebanese singer goes viral for sounding just like fairuz, nicki minaj wows in stunning stage outfit by lebanese designer, smash or pass 6 must-try smashed burger spots in beirut, lri: the initiative leading lebanon’s reforestation efforts.