The Swiss-run International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says a new wastewater treatment plant in the Gaza Strip will improve sanitation and people's health.

The new plant it is inaugurating will serve the city of Rafah and uses new technology to reduce contamination in wastewater by up to 90 per cent, making it clean enough to use for irrigation.

The plant will go online this week to coincide with World Water Day on March 22 and will serve 180,000 people.

“Over-population in the Gaza Strip, over-consumption of fresh water sources and under-treatment of the wastewater produced by hundreds of thousands of people add up to a serious threat to the environment and to public health,” the ICRC said in a statement.

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