{"id":1035361,"date":"2026-08-31T18:18:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T18:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1035361\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T18:18:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T18:18:17","slug":"water-disruptions-reach-central-israel-as-desalination-facilities-remain-offline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1035361\/","title":{"rendered":"Water disruptions reach central Israel as desalination facilities remain offline"},"content":{"rendered":"

The impact of a widespread malfunction at Israel\u2019s desalination facilities<\/a> reached central Israel on Monday, with residents of Givatayim warned that water supply disruptions could occur in the coming hours, including reduced water pressure and even outages in certain areas.<\/p>\n

A message sent to residents stated: \u201cFollowing problems with the water supply in the national water network, disruptions to water supply may occur in the coming hours, including reduced pressure and water outages in certain areas. We ask the public to conserve water as much as possible and use water only for essential needs until normal operations resume.\u201d<\/p>\n

The warning came amid an unusual disruption to Israel\u2019s national water network, after five of the country\u2019s six desalination facilities were forced to shut down. According to Water Authority<\/a> Director-General Yehezkel Lifshitz, severe seawater turbidity that began over the weekend and moved from south to north has prevented the facilities from filtering water and operating normally.<\/p>\n

Five of six desalination facilities shut down<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Water Authority estimates that the turbidity is linked to stormy conditions in the eastern Mediterranean. An initial assessment also suggests that it may have been caused by a significant algae buildup drifting from the Nile region.<\/p>\n

A dedicated vessel was sent offshore to collect samples and examine the composition of the material causing the turbidity.<\/p>\n

\"WaterWater discharging from a desalination plant into the Zalmon River and into the Sea of Galilee, March 4, 2026. (credit: MICHAEL GILADI\/FLASH90)<\/p>\n

The effects of the malfunction were initially felt mainly in southern Israel and in the agricultural sector. Farmers in the Eshkol Regional Council were asked to immediately reduce their use of freshwater for agriculture and gardening, while the Ramat Negev Regional Council decided to temporarily halt agricultural water supplies and reduce irrigation in gardens and public areas.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mekorot was instructed to increase the use of available production and drilling resources across the national water network in order to reduce the shortage created by the desalination shutdown.<\/p>\n

The Water Authority estimated that some of the facilities may return to operation in the coming hours as the sediment settles and seawater<\/a> clarity improves.<\/p>\n

Gezer Regional Council imposes water restrictions<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Gezer Regional Council instructed residents to immediately halt watering private gardens and agricultural areas on Monday after failures at Israel\u2019s desalination facilities caused a nationwide disruption to the regular water supply.<\/p>\n

In a notice issued at 3:50 p.m. on Monday, the council stated: \u201cDue to a nationwide disruption in the regular water supply, as a result of malfunctions at the national desalination facilities, residents of the council are asked to immediately close the taps and water systems designated for home gardens and agriculture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Water associations were instructed to stop irrigating agricultural areas<\/a> and public spaces to ensure enough water remained available for private use.<\/p>\n

\u201cReducing water use for gardening and agricultural needs is necessary in order to maintain continuity of household water supplies,\u201d the notice said.<\/p>\n

At the time of the announcement, the council said that the only community within its jurisdiction experiencing a water outage was Karmi Yosef, but warned that additional communities could be affected by the disruption.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ask all residents to act responsibly and conserve water as much as possible,\u201d the council said.<\/p>\n

The council added that it would provide further updates as needed.<\/p>\n

Jerusalem, Rishon Lezion warned of possible water disruptions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Residents of Jerusalem and Rishon Lezion were also warned of possible water supply disruptions on Monday after malfunctions at Israel\u2019s desalination facilities affected the national water network.<\/p>\n

The Hagihon water company, which serves Jerusalem, said that disruptions to desalination facility operations could lead to water outages and interruptions in the capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working with the relevant authorities to reduce disruptions and restore regular water supply as soon as possible,\u201d the company said in a message to customers.<\/p>\n

Hagihon said customers affected by the malfunction would receive individual notifications and added that there was no need to stockpile water at this stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf supply disruptions occur in your area, we will update you regarding the locations of water distribution points and their operating hours,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

The company also urged residents to follow updates on its website and through its customer service center.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, residents of Rishon Lezion were warned of possible disruptions following a nationwide water supply issue involving Mekorot, Israel\u2019s national water company, and in accordance with Water Authority instructions.<\/p>\n

The Maniv Rishon water corporation said that Mekorot and the Water Authority had issued a nationwide request for residents to conserve water and avoid nonessential uses, including filling pools, washing reservoirs and watering gardens.<\/p>\n

Maniv Rishon said it was prepared for such situations and had been working since the morning to maintain a continuous water supply as much as possible, in coordination with the Rishon Lezion Municipality, the Water Authority and Mekorot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The impact of a widespread malfunction at Israel\u2019s desalination facilities reached central Israel on Monday, with residents of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1035362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[414296,99,414297,50,527,414298,371020],"class_list":["post-1035361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-desalination-israel","tag-israel","tag-israel-desalination","tag-news","tag-water","tag-water-authority-israel","tag-water-in-israel"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117191503759399134","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1035361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1035362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1035361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1035361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1035361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}