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A. Hofer, T. Mayr, C. Scharf, S. Hietler:
"WATERSHOPS FOR THE GAZA STRIP"; (2002).

http://www.stb.tuwien.ac.at/forschung/projekte/watershop.htm

Water and Community

"Water is essential for life. We are all aware if its necessity, for drinking, for producing food, for washing - in essence for maintaining our health and dignity. Water is also required for producing many industrial products, for generating power, and for moving peoples and goods. In addition water is essential for ensuring the integrity and sustainability of the Earth´s ecosystems."

Water for People - Water for Life - The United Nations World Water Development Report, 2003

At the beginning of the 21st century, the Earth is facing a serious water crisis. One of every six peoples does not have acces to potable water. While the average US American consumes 250 liters of water per day (European 104 liters), peoples from Africa have access to less than 5 liters per day.
Population growth and rising demand per capita are creating water shortages in many countries. In 2025 48 countries containing about three billion people will face water shortages. By 2050 the figures will be 54 countries containing four billion people, or 40 per cent of the projected world population of 9,4 billion.


Water in Palestine

The Middle East has a long history of dispute over water resources with the palestinian - israeli dispute at its core. Israeli control over the water resources is a consequence of the military power it udes in the war of 1967.
As a result of the peace processes it was issued within the Oslo II Agreement (1995) that Palestine would take on responsibility for all water resources in the occupied territories. The Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) has been in charge with the management of water sources since 1995. But the recent aggravation of the conflict between Palestine and Israel since september 2000 have had a strong impact on the use and development of the anyway scarce water resources.

Today the regions water crisis is not merely a question of supply. It has always been linked to power structures in the region, which maintain inequality among those who share the water. While the palestinian per capita consumption per day is estimated at 50 - 70 liters, Israel´s consumption is 350 liters.


Gaza Strip / Deir al Balah

As in most regions of the Middle East, the Gaza Strip also suffers from acute drinking water scarcity. In urban areas of the Gaza strip nearly the entire population has access to drinking water pipes. Nevertheless, the water pipe system is made of low-quality material, mainly asbestos cement with large parts of the system having been built some decades ago. This leads to high water losses, which amount to 40 to 60 percent of the water quantities produced.
The last years have witnessed further aggravation of drinking water scarcity.

This can be traced back to the following reasons:

. difficult political and legal situation between Palestine and Israel
. high population growth
. extreme over-use and destruction of the groundwater aquifer in
the Gaza Strip due to heavy increase in agricultural production.

From september 2000 to november 2002, Israeli forces have razed some 15.000 dunums of mostly agricultural land in the Gaza Strip (about 10% of Gaza´s total arable land base).
600 palestinian homes were demolished and over 60 businesses, factories and schools have been destroyed or damaged by Israeli forces in Gaza alone.


Seawater Desalination Project, Deir al Balah

In 1996 the Austrian Government decided to support the peace process in the Middle East. The Austrian Development Cooperation contributed with an Euro 4,0 million financial budget for the construction of a seawater desalination plant in the Gaza Strip.

The essential project goals were defined as follows:

. creation of safe, purified drinking water for the population
of Greater Deir al Balah
. securing drinking water di stribution for all final consumers
. protection of groundwater resources
. PWA as decision-maker during all project phases
. securing organisational and technical operational
functioning as well as user participation
"Watershops" - After successful completion of the seawater desalination process, the focus is shifted to the elements for drinking water distribution. Although these "watershops" only represent a minor construction task compared to the elaborate technical equipment of the desalination plant, they are nevertheless fundamental for the entire project. Figuring as the final element of the desalination process the watershops are those units to which the local population has direct exposure to.


Urban Planning Criteria for local site selection

The selection criteria for the thirteen local sites for the watershops in Greater Deir al Balah were determined by multiple factors. Naturally costs for each meter of water pipes were taken into account. Above all though was the importance of the strategic positioning of the watershops in order to ensure an area-wide water supply.


Since the availability of statistical data regarding population distribution in Deir al Balah is limited, site density of the urban structure was used as a basis for site investigations. With a catchment area of 300 to 500 meters (approximately five to eight minutes walking distance) large parts of the urban area can be covered. In doing so, the best possible supply density can be achieved in the city centre of Deir al Balah and in the refugee camp by the sea without having to neglect marginal areas such as those of El Zawaida.

Another essential criterion to influence the definite site selection of the watershops was the availability of property which had to free from interest conflicts. The thirteen sites were ultimately determined under close collaboration with representatives from the municipalities of Deir al Balah and El Zawidah.


Project requirements

Due to the decision concerning the operation of the watershops for an operator and against automatic operation, all requirements for a permanent workplace were integrated in the design. Due to the permanent presence of an operator, the use of the watershop may further be extended to sell other goods for daily use (newspapers, refreshments, etc). At the same time the watershop may also be regarded in its social function since it serves as a meeting point in the neighbourhood.

Therefore the watershop transforms into a minimized building similar to a kiosk which meets the afore-mentioned requirements and numerous further claims:

. water distribution to the community
. mobility & extensibility: site changes with minimal technical effort
. social communication
. safety: sufficient prevention against vandalism
. climatic demands: protection against sun and promotion of air
exchange in summer, protection against the cold and wind in winter
. on-site construction with merely local resources
. tight estimated expenditure budget of appr. US $ 10.000 per unit


Design principles

The watershops shall be regarded as image carriers as they act as mediators between the complex issue "water treatment" and the local public.

The use of heavy building materials, particularly concrete and natural stone, shape the urban landscape of Deir al Balah. Light, mostly white to sandstone coloured facades create a homogenous outer appearance of the city. In this context, the watershops may be regarded as implants, whose design and colour concept communicates their different use compared to the other buildings in the immediate surrounding area. Concerning the watershops, despite the fact that their visible skeleton construction has been borrowed from the "growing building" construction typology widely-used in Palestine, the use of steel and sandwich panels clearly points to rather technical complexities. The design further emphasises the significance and preciousness of water in Gaza. Because of its lockable folding doors the front facades of the watershops signal a certain degree of safety regarding water supply. Simultaneously the transparent barred elements provide an insight into the watershop interior.


Technical-functional profile

The watershop design is based on a modular layout principle, which is developed on the basis of a grid pattern 1,0 x 1,0 m. This grid width results from the minimum distance of two water taps (which in turn is measured by two people standing shoulder to shoulder during water extraction).

At the same time, the module principle enables a direct adaptation of the layout which is geared to the local site. Therefore there are eight watershops looking to the right and five looking to the left, and there are such watershops with six or four water taps. By means of simply adding grid elements, the modular principles allow for the expansion of the watershops from presently planned four or six water taps to eight, ten or more.

A lightweight skeleton construction of galvanised steel frames with sandwich panels as filling elements is applied. Every unit is industrially prefabricated and erected on a concrete base.


Realization process

The planning process was initiated in july 2002, and during all project phases particular emphasis was put on communication between Palestine and Austrian project partners.
First, the result of the preliminary design was discussed in detail with representatives from the PWA, staff from the municipalities affected as well as representatives from the local community of Deir al Balah. Before carrying out the final construction design, all details were once again double-checked. In this respect the availability of local materials as well as the local technical know how had a strong impact.

Building of a prototype

Due to the permanent isolation of the Gaza Strip by the military, material shortages had to be accounted for. In addition, the availability of stainless steel processing facilities in Gaza was yet quite unclear. For this reason it was decided to only build a single watershop prototype. The completion of the prototype provided the necessary insights concerning material processing and gave ideas for further optimisations. After the final prototype had been accepted by all parties involved, production of twelve more watershops could start.


Finalisation

At the same time the first watershop was erected on-site and the trial operation began. During this operation monitoring activities took place which served two purposes: besides examination of the water quality, the consumer behaviour of the customers was also observed. Moreover, general use mechanisms of the watershop were further monitored. The results of the trial operation monitoring were taken into account for the final adjusting of the twelve more sites. After the production of the remaining twelve watershops was completed in october 2003, all units were locally erected.

Resuming the working process, close communication and mutually shared decisions among all project partners were essential for our project. It was worthwhile focussing highly on design matters within the (infrastructure) project, since design assumes the role of coherently communicating functional capacities by means of an aesthetic language. The watershop design makes the product "Seawater Desalination" transparent and sends esteem signals for future users.


Geographic coordinates

West Bank: 32´ 00 N, 35´15 E; Gaza: 31´ 25 N, 34´ 20 E
Palestinian Territories (occupied by Israel since 1967) -
total area: 6.170 km2

West Bank
total area: 5.800 km2; 130 km long, 40-65 km in width
Population (2002): 2.153.000 (44,6 % under 14 years,
average household size 5,7)

Gaza Strip
total area: 365 km2; 45 km long and 5-12 km in width
Population (2002): 1.229.000 (49,6 % under 14 years,
average household size 6,9)


Population of the Gaza Strip - Urban Areas

Gaza City city: 469.122 (2003)
Khan Yunis city + refugee camp: 61.880
Jabalia city + refugee camp: 159.003
Rafah city + refugee camp: 121.223
Deir al Balah city + refugee camp: 57.003


Project partners

Employers side
Austrian Development Agency (ADA), Vienna
Austrian Representative Office, Ramallah
University of Soil Management (BOKU), Vienna
Palestinean Water Authority (PWA), Gaza City
Contractors side
Civil Engineering Agency TRUGINA, Laxenburg/Vienna
Islamic University of Gaza
Vienna University of Technology, Institute of Urban Design
and several subcontracted companies in Austria and Palestine


Project Authors

Vienna University of Techology
Institut of Urban Design and Planning
Watershop Design Project Team
Andreas Hofer, Tanja Mayr, Christian Scharf, Stefan Hietler
email: ahofer@email.archlab.tuwien.ac.at
Tel: +43 [1] 58801- 26017



Sources:
. Jung Helmut, Kögler Thomas, El Sheik Rebhy, Hofer Andreas, Vom "Reparaturdienstverhalten" zur siedlungswasserwirtschaftlichen Planung der ÖEZA, Wasserversorgung im Gaza Strip - Palestine, in: Österreichische Wasser- und Abfallwirtschaft ÖWAV, Heft 11/12
2003, Springer Verlag, Wien 2003, p. 197 - 204.
. Hofer Andreas, Watershops for the Gaza Strip. The role of Design in developing cooperation projects, AESOP Congress, Grenoble 07 2004.
. Student Group RWTH Aachen (2001): Marius A. Ryrko, Indu Thottakath.
. Student Group UT Vienna (2004): Astrid Erhartt, Max Gangler, Thomas Melcher, Thomas Reumüller, Simon Kazianka, Christoph Maurer.
. Student Group UT Vienna (2000): Ivana Mirek, Johan Hedin.
. http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr/table_contents.shtml, as of 08/2004.
. http://www.passia.org/publications/bulletins/water-eng/water.pdf, as of 08/2004.
. http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=671&section=14, as of 08/2004.
. http://www.waterfootprint.org/WaterFootprints.htm, as of 08/2004.
. http://www.visibleearth.nasa.gov, as of 08/2004.
. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/gaza_strip_
1999.jpg, as of 08/2004.
. http://www.fischzucht-nordhausermuehle.de, as of 08/2004.
. http://www.nahrungsergaenzung-mineralstoffe-vitamine.de, as of 08/2004.

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