Mekorot ( he, מקורות, lit. "Sources") is the national water company of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and the country's top agency for water management. Founded in 1937, it supplies Israel with 90% of its drinking water and operates a cross-country

water supply network A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following: # A drainage basin (see water purification – source ...

known as the National Water Carrier. Mekorot and its subsidiaries have partnered with numerous countries around the world in areas including desalination and

water management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slight ...

History

Mekorot was established as the "''Ḥevrat ha-Mayim''" ('Water Company') on 15 February 1937 by Levi Shkolnik (later Eshkol,

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exec ...

between 1963-1969), water engineer

Simcha Blass Simcha Blass (November 27, 1897 – July 18, 1982; he, שמחה בלאס) was a Polish-Israeli engineer and inventor who developed the modern drip irrigation system with his son Yeshayahu. Biography Simcha Blass was born in Warsaw, Poland, which ...

, and Pinchas Koslovsky (later Sapir,

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

between 1963-1968).

Water supply system

Mekorot supplies 80% of Israel's

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

and 70% of its water supplies. The company runs 3,000 installations throughout the country for water supply, water quality, infrastructure, sewage purification, desalination, rain enhancement, etc. Mekorot oversees operations of 691 pumping stations, 2,565 pumps, 1,200 wells, 12,000 km of large-diameter pipes, 714 concrete and steel pools and tanks and 104 large earth reservoirs. Mekorot supplies water to the domestic, agriculture and industrial sectors, and to the Kingdom of Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, in accordance with its undertakings in political agreements. Mekorot's water supply system unifies most of the regional water plants, the National Water Carrier and Yarkon-Negev plant, and draws water from the Sea of Galilee, aquifers, boreholes, seawater, desalinated water, and brackish water.

National Water Carrier

Mekorot's

National Water Carrier National Water Carrier of Israel The National Water Carrier of Israel ( he, המוביל הארצי, ''HaMovil HaArtzi'') is the largest water project in Israel, completed in 1964. Its main purpose is to transfer water from the Sea of Galilee ...

, known in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

as ''Hamovil ha'artzi,'' runs from

Lake Kinneret The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest f ...

in the north to the northern Negev Desert in the south. The system has been expanded to pipe water from

desalination Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in Soil salinity control, soil desalination, which is an issue f ...

plants on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

coast.

Water tariffs

Water tariff A water tariff (often called ''water rate'' in the United States and Canada) is a price assigned to water supplied by a public utility through a piped network to its customers. The term is also often applied to wastewater tariffs. Water and wastewat ...

s are set by the Ministry of National Infrastructure and Ministry of Finance, and approved by the Knesset Finance Committee. Tariffs are updated from time to time according to changes in the Consumer Price Index, electricity rates and the average wage index. The rates vary according to use: domestic, consumption and services, industry and agriculture. Rates for industrial and agricultural use are lower than those for domestic consumption and services.Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Israel's Water Economy - Thinking of future generations, 10 Aug 2002
/ref> The bulk water tariff is the same throughout the country, regardless of the difference in supply costs.

Water filtering

In 2008, Mekorot established a central water filtering plant for water pumped from

. The company also improved quality control. As a result, water quality has improved and less chlorine is added to the water as a disinfecting agent.

Global presence

Mekorot signed a memorandum of understanding with

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

-based

Jain Irrigation Systems Jain Irrigation Systems, or Jains, is an Indian multinational conglomerate based in Jalgaon. It develops, manufactures, supports and sells diversified products, including drip and sprinkler irrigation systems and its components, integrated ir ...

in 2008. The two companies agreed to cooperate in exploring the potential for projects in the areas of

, water resource management, and

wastewater treatment Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environme ...

and reclamation relating to urban infrastructure in India. In 2012 a subsidiary of Mekorot entered into a major contract with a delegation from India involving the deployment of

water control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water levels ...

and smart metering systems in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

in order to prevent water waste. The government of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

signed an agreement with a consortium consisting of Mekorot Development and Enterprise Ltd and a Cypriot company in 2009 for construction of a desalination plant in

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

. The Limassol agreement was followed by an agreement to construct a second desalination plant in

Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 144 ...

, bringing the projected combined output of the two plants to 40% of Cyprus' drinking water. Mekorot signed an agreement with

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

National Water and Sewerage Corporation The National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) is a water supply and sanitation company in Uganda. It is wholly owned by the government of Uganda. Location The company, as of July 2018, was in the final stages of construction of its new hea ...

in 2011. According to the agreement, the Ugandan government will allocate tens of millions of dollars toward the construction of dams and reservoirs at four locations in the country. A meeting between Mekorot officials and an

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

delegation led by

Don Plusquellic Donald L. Plusquellic (born July 3, 1949) is the former mayor of Akron, Ohio. First elected in 1987, he became the 59th Mayor of Akron after previously serving 13 years on Akron City Council. Plusquellic has served his seventh term, making him t ...

in 2012 led to an announcement that Mekorot would be opening its first U.S. office with Akron's Global Business Accelerator. The office will coordinate information exchange relating to

water security Water security is the focused goal of water policy and water management. A society with a high level of water security makes the most of water's benefits for humans and ecosystems and limits the risk of destructive impacts associated with water. T ...

water technology Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, includ ...

and

energy technology Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse ...

, with an ultimate objective of commercializing joint ventures, creating jobs, and developing the economy. The Water Supply Master Plan (WSMP) for the Marathwada region of the state of Maharashtra, India, was awarded to Mekorot Development & Enterprise Ltd. (MDE), a subsidiary of Mekorot, Israel National Water Co., by the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP), the state government-run water company. The MDE-MJP contract was signed on February 21, 2018 under the umbrella of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the Government of Israel and the Government of Maharashtra as part of broader government-to-government (G2G) collaboration between India and Israel. According to the contract, the Mekorot team is to prepare a comprehensive water supply master plan, covering all types of water resources and demand categories (potable and urban, livestock and agriculture), in order to help achieve sustainable long-term water balance and minimise

water shortage Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is wher ...

crises. The Water Conservation and Management Master Plan (WCMMP) for the State of Punjab was awarded to Mekorot water company Ltd, Israel National Water Company, by Punjab Water Resources Management and Development Corporation, under the Managing Director Punjab Water Resources Management and Development Corporation. The contract was signed on April 15, 2019, under the umbrella of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the parties on October 23, 2018. According to the agreement, Mekorot prepared a comprehensive water conservation and management master plan, covering all types of water resources and demand categories to help achieve sustainable long-term water balance and minimize any water shortage crises. This was done mainly by promoting State water sector's policy, management regulations and increasing efficiency in water use.

International political controversy

In 2013, Netherlands' largest water company Vitens withdrew from an agreement with Mekorot, citing concern about violation of

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. According to Dutch media the withdrawal followed consultations with the Dutch

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

and was caused by Mekorot's role in supplying water to

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

s on the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. A spokesperson for the Israeli government called the decision "absurd", pointing to Israel having signed an agreement with the Palestinian authorities and Jordan about future water allocations.Biggest Dutch water board pulls out of Israeli deal, citing international law
DutchNews.nl. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013

References

External links

Mekorot web site
{{authority control Government-owned companies of Israel Hydraulic engineering Utilities of Israel Water supply and sanitation in Israel