Recreational Seawater Quality of the Northern Region of Gaza Strip Beaches

Fecal indicator bacteria are widely used to determine the quality of water in conjunction with the use of physicochemical parameters. Water sample were collected from five seawater stations along the Gaza city beach were sampled fortnightly for eight months from January to August 2021. Samples were collected at five locations along the sea coastline in the Gaza City and analyzed for the microbiological parameters (total coliform, fecal coliform, and fecal streptococci) as well as the physicochemical parameters (pH, temperature, BOD, O2, nitrate, ammonia, and EC). The results showed statistically significant correlation between microbiological and physiochemical parameters. Furthermore, the result demonstrated that Al-shate (Location 4) is the most polluted Location, as indicated by the highest geometric mean of the fecal indicator bacteria, in which the majority of samples were poor (highly polluted). In conclusion, the current study highlights a significant pollution in most sites investigated along the Gaza city coastline. Further study should be done along Gaza strip beaches to investigate the entire coastline of the Gaza strip as well as to detect the trends in the seawater quality.