A number of days ago, reports were circulating about rabbonim and askanim in the know prohibiting turning on one’s water faucet in Israel on Shabbos because the desalination plants were operating on the holy day.
Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Yitzchak Pindrus became involved and via MK Uri Maklev of Yahadut Hatorah, the matter was brought before HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky. Contact was made with the Mekorot Water Company towards finding a solution to the fears, leading to a number of ‘fixes’.
In an internal letter sent by Mr. Danny Sofer, Deputy Director-General of Mekorot, to the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Sofer details the solutions they have reached. The process is now entirely automated, only requiring human intervention in the event of a problem arising, and due to the advanced nature of the technology involved, this is rarely required.
The letter also states that in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Beit Shemesh, Betar Illit, and Modi’in Illit, there is no issue since there is water storage and these facilities are filled before Shabbos, and are sufficient for the entire Shabbos without a need for water from Mekorot to add to that on a holy day.
In Beit Shemesh the water arrival time is 25.4 hours, in Jerusalem – 30.2 hours, Modi’in Illit – 29.5 hours, Betar Illit – 32 hours. The arrival time of the water to the city of Bnei Brak is about 3 hours, and they come from private wells operated in generators and water pools filled before the Sabbath. To the city of Elad, the water arrival time is 16 hours.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
the water is delivered via gravity feed pipes but in some areas of the city, there are supplemental pumping stations necessary to maintain adequate water pressure. Normally, turning on a single faucet wouldn’t trigger the pumps to operate but you have no way of knowing at the margin which faucet might indirectly result in an electrical signal to the pump to pursh more water “up the hill”. For those who live in those hilly areas of EY, and want to be machmir, simply store sufficient water for use over shabbos in your pool, hot tub or buckets in the house, or simply drink schnaps in lieu of water.
Wow. So is this a new “problem” or was this going on unnoticed for the last number of years? If it was, so does that mean all the heiligeh menschen were being oiver avaira chumrios all of these years?! Or is this like the alleged bugs-in-the-water NYC problem?
A new day, a new crises. I see the oilam got bored of the sheital crises. Nothing left to burn. I wonder what they will assur tomorrow.
The “bugs in the water” in NYC actually is a problem. Unfortunately, there have been enough mistaken “chumra of the month” alerts that people are skeptical when something real does arise. Until the major Gedolim make a public announcement I would ignore the rumors. Let the Gedolim decide if it’s a problem.
Not getting involved: This is new. The desalination is only a few years old.