The oasis of El Hamma du Djerid lies on the southeastern edge of the Chott el Rharsa, 9km/6mi north of Tozeur on the Gafsa road (GP 3). There are four small villages - El Erg, Mhareb, Msaaba and Nemlet - with a total population of 3,500. The oasis has an area of some 700 hectares/1,750 acres and contains 110,000 palms, which are supplied with water by 20 springs. Among them are six hot springs (37-40°C/99-104°F) containing chlorine, sodium chloride and sulfur which were already being used by the Romans for medicinal purposes - there are remains of a Roman settlement 1km/.75mi from Nemlet - and are still frequented by the local people for the treatment of skin complaints, neuralgia and arthritis.
A "complex touristique" (hotels, spa treatment facilities) is under construction at these springs.
In recent years a completely new plantation of date-palms, the Domaine de l'Oasis, has been established by a private company on the north side of the oasis. This has involved the sinking of deep wells to tap reservoirs of fossil ground-water at depths of between 600m/2,000ft and 1,000m/3,300ft. Thanks to these wells, which operate much more effectively than those in Tozeur and Nefta (yielding a total flow, including both springs and wells, of 1,900 liters/420 gallons per second), and to the adoption of modern methods of cultivation (e.g. looser planting at only 150 palms to the hectare, or 60 to the acre) yields are four times as high as at Tozeur, six times as high as in the rest of the oasis and ten times as high as at Nefta.
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