Oil-rich Libya has been plunged into chaos for the last decade, throughout which public utilities like desalination plants were largely neglected. This has become a real struggle for the Libyan residents of the eastern city of Tobruk, as the only seawater desalination plant is in need of massive repairs.
A Libyan resident from Tobruk, Bashir Al-Qatani said, “As for drinking water, I fill up containers from water treatment shops. Honestly, I buy it from the shops. We cannot understand where the state is taking us.”
“The Libyan government implements many projects such as roads, but it is more important to focus on water projects. When it comes to electricity, we are used to its suffering (blackouts). But this water shortage is a matter of life and death,” he added.
“If the water supply is cut off, the lives of thousands of people will be threatened,” an official warned.
“The plant once provided 40,000 cubic meters per day, a number that has shrunk by two-thirds due to obvious wear and tear in the plant,” Libyan official Masoud Al-Wahran said.
“Honestly, what is available now is only about 15,000 cubic meters per day. So this is really a big problem, a problem that worries officials and residents. And there are no solutions on the horizon, not in the short term. If the water is cut off from Tobruk and the plant stops working and the electricity goes out, God forbid, about 300,000 Libyan people will be threatened with death from thirst,” he claimed.
Libya is reliant on seawater desalination, and groundwater
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, repeated attacks on the Man-Made River, which provides 60% of all freshwater used in Libya, threaten the water security of the entire country.
Popularly referred to as the Great Man-Made River, this network of pipes supplies fresh water from the Nubian Sandstone Aquiver System, one of the largest aquifers in the world, to areas across Libya.
In 2021, the United Nations Children’s Fund reported that about 190 wells had been rendered out of service due to repeated attacks on the man-made river systems.
The attacks have been common since the 2011 revolution that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, who had ruled the country for four decades.
The situation has been worsened by frequent power cuts, and a lack of fuel needed for operations.