Most of Gaza water is unsuitable for drinking, a report by Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) said Saturday.

"From 90 percent to 95 percent of underground water does not meet the standards recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), so it is inapt for human usage," the report said.

The daily quota of water for each person in Gaza is 80 liter, half of the amount the WHO standard.

"The Gaza Strip suffers from a water shortage of up to 70 million cubic meter per annum due to the natural increase of population," the report added.

The 1.5 million people of the coastal strip rely on one aquifer as their solo source of water, the report said.

However, the sea water has mixed up with the underground water, making it salty. The bad ways of draining sewage water has also contributed to the crisis, the study showed.

The research warned that the presumed age of the aquifer will not exceed 10 years.

Israel imposes a closure on Gaza since 2007 and the sanctions suspended the building of sewage and water treatment stations due to the lack of spare parts.

Last week, a London-based rights group Amnesty International accused Israel of depriving Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank from water.

It said Israel uses four times as much water as Palestinians and the Jewish state gets most of these water from an aquifer mostly located in the occupied West Bank.

(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2009)