Beit Dajan, Nablus (Palestine)
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Beit Dajan is a Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate which economic vocation is typically agricultural, with crops such as citrus, almonds, olives, alfalfa and grapes in addition to livestock. It is located 10.74 km east of Nablus City at an altitude of 512m above seal level with a mean annual rainfall of 343.3mm.
The population of Beit Dajan in 2018 was 4,460 inhabitants and the total area of Beit Dajan village consist of approximately 44,000 dunums (4,400 Ha).
Beit Dajan map, WeWorld GVC 2019
Since 1996, Beit Dajan has been governed by a Village Council, which has a permanent headquarters included with the "Joiint Services Council of Nablus".
Beit Dajan has been chosen by the MENAWARA action as its community suffers from sever problems in terms of water availability for agriculture, and lack of technologies and infrastructures that lead to a non-adequate irrigation supply for crop production and other agricultural activities.
In addition, the community faced problems with the proper management of irrigation schemes including the absence of schedule irrigation.
👉 In a living lab environment, WW-GVC, supported by all relevant stakeholders, tested improved irrigation systems supplied with treated wastewater (TWW) of better quality thanks to the rehabilitation of its Waste Water Treatment Plant to increase the production of lemon, olives and grapes. Then, a Water User Association has been created to coordinate and manage the TWW irrigation network between the farmers.
In Palestine, the project is building a governance model that, thanks to the living lab approach, is impacting the perception of reuse to public officials and population.
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The Beit Dajan's waste water treatment plant has been built in 2014, but due to breakdown of several components, effluent quality degraded and became unsafe for reuse and caused environmental harm.
In the MENAWARA project, the following components of the plant has been rehabilitated:
o Influent Lifting Station: by installing 2 new submersible pumps;
o Pre-treatment Unit or 'Compact system’: by replacing the old disabled unit with a new one with an higher performance;
o Aeration Tank: by installing 2 new mixers, a DO meter, new flow meters and optimizing the aeration and desludging process (the sludge has good settleability not: F/M ratio and efficient BOD removal);
o Secondary Clarifier: through the maintenance of the tank including cleaning;
o Equalization tank (EQ) & sandfilters: by constructing EQ & the installation of 2 sand filters with 2 pressure pumps (showing the efficient removal of TSS by sand filters, reaching the standards);
o Chlorination unit: maintenance (incl. cleaning) and installation of dosage pump;
o Effluent Tank: new internal lining for the outlet tank.
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Following the agronomic characterization & irrigation appraisal, soil analysis and modelling have been carried out to estimate the water requirements and potential impact of TWW re-use on the soil quality, and then to design and implement innovative irrigation scheme to increase efficiency and productivity. Study on soil-water fluxes have also been performed by Al Najah university and CIHEAM BARI to predict deep percolation of TWW.
After consulting and collaborating with Ministry of Agriculture (Nablus directorate), WW-GVC was advised about the water requirement needed for each type of crops. CIHEAM BARI then modelled and calculated for each plot the amount of TWW needed using meteorological data, soil characteristics, crop type and number of plants. Based on these results and the WWTP effluent quality, the irrigation network was designed (more than 5 km of pipelines), water allocation to each farmer determined and proper irrigation management practices recommended for grape, lemon, olives and alfalfa respectively. The action targeted 14 farmers and 7.6 hectares.
Constant trainings and workshops addressed to farmers and village council's representatives have been carried out on optimal water management and sustainable agricultural practices. Finally, guidelines on safe reuse of TWW in agriculture, monitoring and maintenance have been shared among farmers.
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Along the project, all stakeholders related to the water field have been engaged to establish a new model of local governance. Each intervention proposal and action has been discussed and agreed, each stakeholder was fully aware of the steps to be taken and its impact. Local stakeholders included: Beit Dajan Village Council, Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ministry of Local Government - MoLG, Environmental Quality Authority - EQA, Water User Association of Beit Dajan, Farmers representation, Palestinian Hydrology Group - PHG.
A Water User Association (WUA) gathering 14 farmers has been then created to coordinate and manage the TWW irrigation network between them. Monthly meetings have been organized addressed to farmers and the Village council of Beit Dajan to discuss water quantity, water quality and tariffing. Roles and responsability have been discussed and agreed as well.
