water supply and sanitation in lebanon water supply and sanitation in lebanon water supply and sanitation in lebanon is characterized by a number of achievements and challenges. the achievements include the reconstruction of infrastructure after the 1975–90 civil war and the 2006 war with israel, as well as the reform of the water and sanitation sector through a water law passed in 2000. the law created four regional water establishments to consolidate numerous smaller utilities. water supply and sanitation in lebanondataaccess to an improved water source100%; 80% access to piped water supply (2008)share of collected wastewater treatedlowcontinuity of supplyaverage of 6 hours per day in summer and 9 hours per day in winter with wide disparities between regions (2008)average urban water use (l/person/day)150 (estimated)average urban water and sanitation tariff (us$/m3)us$159 per year flat fee, corresponding to us$0.97/m3 (beirut in 2008)share of household metering16% in beirut-mount lebanon (2010); zero in some other areasannual investment in wssus$129m (late 90s and early 2000s)share of self-financing by utilitieslowshare of external financing73% for water, 56% for wastewater (council for development and reconstruction only)non-revenue waterabout 40%institutionsdecentralization to municipalitieslimited to sanitationnational water and sanitation companynowater and sanitation regulatorcdrresponsibility for policy settingministry of energy and watersector lawwater law 221/2000service providers4 governmental regional water establishments the challenges include poor service quality, in particular intermittent water supply that persists despite the availability of relatively abundant water resources; the slow implementation of the water reform; the separation of responsibilities between various entities such as the council for development and reconstruction, which are de facto in charge of investment, and the regional water establishments, which are in charge of operation and maintenance; limited institutional capacity in the public sector, and in particular the regional water establishments; politicization of decision-making; the absence of an autonomous regulatory agency; poor information about water resources, sector performance and assets; a very low share of metering and the absence of volumetric water tariffs; a high level of water distribution losses; limited cost recovery for water supply; and no cost recovery for sewerage and wastewater treatment. these challenges persist more than two decades after the end of the civil war. the lebanese water and sanitation sector has received and continues to receive substantial foreign aid in the form of grants and soft loans from a dozen western and arab donors. access according to un estimates that are not based on any household survey access to an improved water source in lebanon is universal. the un figures on water access may not give an accurate picture of the real situation: a representative survey carried out by the world bank in 2008 estimated that the average connection rate to the public water network was 80%, varying from 96% in beirut to 55% in the north. these figures are similar to those that came out of a 2004 household living conditions survey carried out by the lebanese central administration of statistics. even considering that improved water sources include protected wells and springs in addition to piped water connections, it is unlikely that water access in lebanon is universal. for example, many urban households that are not connected to the network rely on water bought from tanker trucks. the un statistics show no data on access to sanitation in lebanon. the world bank quotes estimates by the council for development and reconstruction showing a 58% share of connection to sewers in 2002. wastewater collection was highest in beirut-mount lebanon (74%) and lowest in the south (35%). the remaining buildings either use cesspools and septic tanks or simply release raw sewage directly into the environment. a census of buildings and establishments in 1996–97 had estimated that only about 37% of the buildings in lebanon were connected to a sewer network at that time, indicating that the share increased substantially between 1997 and 2002. service quality the quality of water service provision is poor. according to official figures from 2009, the average water availability per day was as follows: 22 hours in the north, 10 hours in the bekaa, 8 hours in the south, and for beirut-mount lebanon 13 hours in winter, but only 2 hours in summer. there is not a single village or city in lebanon that receives an uninterrupted residential supply of water. especially in summer, water shortages are common. for example, in nabatieh governorate water reached customers only three times a week in 2007. in greater beirut, water supply drops to 3 hours per day during the summer. according to the above-mentioned 2008 survey, the average lebanese household received 6 hours per day in summer and 9 hours in winter. only one quarter of lebanese households received water every day. the continuity of supply was best in the north where 59% said they received water every day in 2008. it was worst in beirut where this share was only 10%. poor water quality and intermittent supply impose high costs on households to cope with these deficiencies. buying water from trucks and the purchase of bottled water are common. water is also commonly stored in roof tanks, which imposes both an additional cost and jeopardizes water quality. many households also use pumps to make sure that water reaches the upper floors of houses, which imposes more costs on households. low pressure and intermittent water supply are caused, among others, by intermittent electricity supply. according to the world bank, the lebanese water supply and sanitation sector has not achieved service provision in line with the country's level of economic development. the opportunity costs of inadequate public water supply provision amount to 1.3% of gdp every year. the environmental degradation caused by the discharge of untreated wastewater is estimated to cost an additional 1% of gdp every year. however, the failure to provide a continuous water supply does not appear to be a major bottleneck for the lebanese, where water storage tanks are in common use. what matters is the water quality, which is often insufficient, and that households have enough water to keep the tanks supplied, which is not always the case. water resources and water use the city of sidon has an abundance of natural wells supplying three times more water than the current needs of the city. water resource availability rivers of lebanon. the litani river is shown in purple, the lebanese capital beirut in red. the orontes river flows northwards to syria and the ibrahim river is the second river to the north of beirut, flowing to the mediterranean.because of limited and contradictory data, it is difficult to accurately assess water resources availability in lebanon. while lebanon is water-rich compared to jordan, israel or the damascus region in syria, the country's per capita renewable water resources are below the threshold of water poverty set at 1,000 cubic meter per capita and year. only part of the floodwater in rivers can be captured economically in dams, and some groundwater flows unused to the sea. furthermore, 0.51 billion cubic meters of water flow to syria in an average year, and 0.16 billion cubic meters to israel. after subtraction of these amounts, 2.6 billion cubic meters of water are available in an average year, or about 600 cubic metres (21,000 cu ft) per capita. it is not clear if water from springs is counted as part of groundwater or surface water in the above estimate. there are over 2,000 springs with a flow of 1.15 billion cubic meters, sustaining a perennial flow for 17 of the total of 40 major streams in the country. springs and groundwater are today by far the main sources for drinking water supply in lebanon. for example, the city of sidon has an abundance of natural wells supplying three times more water than the current needs of the city. the main rivers that flow entirely inside lebanon are the litani river (average annual flow of 0.79 million cubic meter), the ibrahim river (0.51), the awali river and the damour river (both 0.3). a large share of the litani river is diverted through the markaba tunnel for hydropower generation to the awali river. since the upper watershed of the litani river is polluted and the awali river is due to be tapped as a source of drinking water supply for beirut, this water transfer has implications beyond its intended use for hydropower generation. transboundary rivers two important rivers are shared with syria and one with israel. the orontes river (0.48) that rises in lebanon is shared with syria. a 1994 agreement stipulates that lebanon receives 80 million cubic meters of water per year "if the river flow inside lebanon is 400 million cubic meters per year or more". this means that the risk of drought is borne by lebanon. no new wells were allowed to be drilled in the lebanese portion of the orontes basin since the agreement has been signed. the el kebir river (average flow of 0.19 million cubic meter per year) is also shared with syria, the river itself forming part of the border between the two countries. the hasbani river, a tributary of the jordan river, also rises in lebanon and is shared with israel. surface water flow into northern israel from the hasbani/wazani complex is estimated at 160 million m3/year. there is no agreement about the sharing of the jordan river between the two countries. when lebanon diverted part of the hasbani to supply a village in 2002, israel stated that this could lead to war. pollution the litani, the largest lebanese river, is highly polluted. water resources are polluted by the discharge of untreated or insufficiently treated industrial and domestic wastewater, leaching from septic tanks, agricultural non-point sources such as pesticides and nitrates, hospital waste and domestic solid waste, as well as the discharge of motor oil. the ghadir river in the south of beirut is probably the most polluted river in the country, while the wazzani river in south lebanon may be the least polluted river because of limited economic activity in its basin. the discharge of untreated municipal and industrial effluents, the drainage from agricultural lands, and the uncontrolled discharge of solid wastes have considerably degraded the water quality of the qaraoun lake and the litani river. untreated industrial effluents are discharged into the lake and river from sugar-beet factories, paper factories, lead recovery plants, limestone crushers, agro-industries, poultry farms, tanneries and slaughterhouses. according to a 1998 study by the national council of scientific research of lebanon for unicef 60–70% percent of all natural sources were affected by bacterial contamination. an example is the jeita spring, which has witnessed an increase in fecal coliform bacteria. water use yammouné spring in mount lebanon. data on water use in lebanon are contradictory. official estimates put total water use in 2010 at 1.59 billion m3, including 0.27 billion m3 (17%) from public wells for drinking water supply. in 2005, the fao estimated water withdrawal was at 1.31 billion m3 or about 63% of economically exploitable water resources. of this almost 60% was for agricultural purposes, 29% for municipal use and 11% for industry. the fao does not provide the sources for these figures. municipal use of 0.38 billion m3 would correspond to about 250 liter per capita per day based on these figures. an earlier estimate of the ministry of environment estimated water use at 1.29 billion m3 in 1994, including only 0.21 billion m3 for municipal use. this figure corresponds to 140 liter per capita per day, which fits well with a world bank estimate of 150 liter per capita per day for municipal water use, ranging from 120 liter in beirut-mount lebanon to 200 liter in the north. of households connected to the public water system, only 53% drink it. the share is lowest in nabatieh (27%) and highest in the bekaa (77%). the most frequently cited reasons for not drinking public water are perception of safety relating to health and hygiene, and poor taste. water losses the level of non-revenue water was estimated at about 48% in 2010. it was estimated to be highest in the south (52%) and lowests in beirut-mount lebanon (40%). this is high by international standards, but similar to the levels in syria, jordan and turkey. since there is little metering, it is difficult to estimate the level of non-revenue water. the share of metered connections was estimated at 16% in the beirut-mount lebanon