Israel Matzav

Water usage declines by... 13.5%

Water usage in Israel has dropped by 13.5% this summer, as Israelis attempt to avoid a NIS 20 ($5) surcharge per cubic meter over their allotments as a result of a drought caused partly by government negligence.

The government has been taxing the bejoobles out of water and broadcasting scary toilet-flushing sounds with pretty Israeli women warning how every toilet flush contributes to the flushing of the Kinneret into the Mediterranean Sea. Sounds silly, but the sad thing is, it’s true. The good news is that water consumption for July went down from 73 million cubic meters last year to 63 this year.

This is especially good since water consumption in the summer months generally increases. This year, it actually stayed flat. So far, 70 million cubic meters have been saved, and the Water Authority is hoping to get that number up to 120 million before the onset of the winter rainy season.

To get a picture of where we are, the Kinneret is currently at 213.89 meters below sea level. The red line, meaning the lowest the Kinneret can go before being endangered with salt water intrusion, is 213 below sea level. We are, currently, about a meter below that already, with 2 months to go before the first rains can even begin to get here. The final black line is 215 below, at which point salt water intrusion becomes a definite, and the lake becomes salinated for decades, and 60% of our drinking water becomes virtually unusable.

This is why conserving is so critically important, especially now. We have at least 60 more days until rains come, and with the lake going down 1-4 centimeters a day, we’re getting really, REALLY close to that black line.

The government has even put out a video showing how to put a displacer in your toilet.

Let's go to the videotape (it's in Hebrew - sorry to those who don't understand).



Color me unimpressed.

Our lawn is completely dry (in the park next door the lawn looks beautiful and the city waters it in mid-afternoon - the least efficient way possible, but that's a separate issue). We turn off our shower water while soaping up (something we have done for years), have buckets beneath our sinks and showers to collect water to fill the toilet tanks and water the trees and bushes in the yard, and generally try to minimize flushing the toilet. We leave the bath full after the kids take baths and use the water to water the garden. We have done this since December. Our last water bill showed half the water usage of a year ago, and we barely made it within our quota. That ought to give you some perspective.

But I'm unimpressed for other reasons as well. Tel Aviv gets as much rain as London, albeit in many fewer days. Yet neither Jerusalem nor Tel Aviv collects water in catch basins. Rain water goes to waste.

The government 'knew' by 2007 that desalination was not the answer, so it did not pursue it - or any other alternative - even though Israel is the world leader in desalination technology. The government knew there was a water shortage at the beginning of this decade, but it did not pursue any solution because in 2002 we had an above-average rainfall.

The way in which successive governments have failed to deal with Israel's water shortage - as if it were not something cyclical - is nothing short of criminal. But for those Israelis who are trying to avoid paying fines for excess water usage, please be aware that there are much more efficient ways than sticking a bottle in your toilet tank.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:53 PM