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.

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. Lebanon’s ongoing economic crisis has significantly disrupted the country’s energy and water sectors. A comprehensive survey of 150 municipalities across all Lebanese governorates, covering both public and private water resources, revealed that the average weekly water supply dropped from 49 hours in 2019 to 22 hours in 2023. Concurrently, the use of water tankers surged from 26% to 44%, indicating a shift in water acquisition methods.

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

Water resource availability 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 per capita.Ministry of Environment:Lebanon State of the Environment Report 2001, p. 109f.. According to the FAO, the country's economically available water resources are even lower at 2.1 billion cubic meters per year, consisting of 1.6 billion cubic meters of surface water and 0.5 billion cubic meters of groundwater. 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.FAO Aquastat:Lebanon country profile, 2008 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.Oregon State University: Trans boundary Freshwater Dispute Database, International Freshwater Treaties Database: Bilateral agreement, Act No. 15 concerning the division of the water of Al-Asi River (Orontes) between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Lebanese Republic, September 20, 1994, retrieved on February 5, 2010 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.BBC:Lebanon hails 'liberation of water' 28 March 2002

Pollution

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.La pollution des fleuves du Liban (French), Blog by the President of the Lebanese NGO "Mawassem Khair", 23 June 2010 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.World Bank:Republic Of Lebanon Policy Note on Irrigation Sector Sustainability, p. 19f., November 2003 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.Jurdi, M. « Study of the Quality of Potable Water in Lebanon, 1996 to 1997, Water Research Unit, National Council of Scientific Research, Ministry of Hydraulics and Electrical Resources, Ministry of Public Health, American University of Beirut and UNICEF, 1998. An example is the Jeita spring, which has witnessed an increase in fecal coliform bacteria.

Water use