Has Israel cleaned the pollution from its streams?

Despite embarking on a major river rehabilitation effort in recent years after Israel’s chronic river and stream pollution threatened public health, a high concentration of bacteria in the main streams in the North – Snir, Iyun, Banias – and the Jordan River were reported by the Nature and Parks Authority last month.

With the start of the summer season, many Israelis will seek to escape the heat by taking a dip in the cool, flowing waters – but are the streams safe enough for swimming and other water activities?

The decision to eradicate river and stream contamination began in the 1960s and ’70s, when the northern streams flowing into Lake Kinneret – Israel’s main drinking water source at the time – endangered the lake’s water quality.

Then in 1997, the Maccabiah Bridge disaster highlighted the dangers of polluted water: four people died and 69 were injured when nearly 400 participants in the Maccabiah fell into the dangerously polluted Yarkon River.

Since then, much research and monitoring has gone into addressing the primary pollutants in Israel’s streams: sewage, animal waste, agricultural drainage, and summer droughts.

The first issue Israel tackled was wastewater treatment. Instead of dumping raw sewage into the streams, KKL-JNF built 230 reservoirs to treat and store it in the winter months and provide the agricultural industry (55% of Israel’s water consumption, according to Knesset statistics) with the water it needs during the dry summer season.

“Israel is the leading country in treating wastewater,” said Dr. Doron Markel, chief scientist of Keren Keyemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF). “Over 90% of sewage is treated.”

This brilliant solution, Markel explained, eliminates sewage release in streams, saves precious drinking water from being wasted on agriculture, and permits more farming in the summer. The reservoirs supplied enough water for as much as 40% of the agricultural demand, KKL-JNF said in 2020.

While this may have temporarily solved the issue of sewage disposal, Israel’s “population is increasing and the volume of the reservoirs is not enough,” said Markel.

In the winter, when the water is not needed for agriculture, some of the reservoirs overflow and treated sewage gets released into the streams. This treated sewage, while adequate for irrigation, still contains some bacteria and viruses, deeming it a health hazard upon contact or ingestion, the Health Ministry said.

The solution, according to Dalia Tal, streams manager at Zalul, an environmental organization that helps protect Israel’s seas and streams, is to build enough reservoirs to store all of Israel’s wastewater during the winter. Tal added that there must also be a clear separation between the treated wastewater and streams, so if it’s used in agriculture, it won’t make its way into fresh water sources.

Markel concurred with Tal’s solution and verified KKL-JNF’s intention to continue constructing more reservoirs.

Tal noted, however, that occasional pollution from Lebanon enters the streams, presenting another challenge in wastewater treatment.

Last year, the Nature and Parks Authority warned Israelis not to enter northern streams, after 652 people were suspected of contracting Leptospirosis, and 152 were hospitalized with the bacterial disease.

Leptospirosis, which is transferred from animals to humans (in this case through cattle drinking and then excreting in the streams), can cause pulmonary bleeding, meningitis and even death if left untreated.

“It’s lovely to see cows roaming about in the country, but their waste enters the streams,” Tal said, adding that an effort must be made to “distance the cows from the water,” in order to avoid future outbreaks and pollution. Markel agreed.

Indeed, that is what Israel has done. In March 2019, the Nature and Parks Authority announced a plan to develop water troughs for cows so that they would no longer need to go to the streams to drink. The organization also said it would test northern streams more frequently, organize a monitoring system for diseases in wild animals, and vaccinate livestock.

“Israel is moving away from the state of a third world country where cattle and sheep live on the same water that people later drink and bathe in,” Shaul Goldstein, CEO of the Nature and Parks Authority, said of the plan.

Another contaminant that threatens the cleanliness of the streams is agricultural runoff, which can bring pesticides and herbicides to the water. Organic farming and constructed wetlands that naturally treat wastewater are potential solutions, Markel mentioned, but they are difficult to implement on a large scale.

Pollution is more problematic in the summer months, Tal explained, as the lack of rainfall naturally slows or stops the stream’s flow, while many stream water sources are artificially blocked and redirected for the country’s water consumption needs. This allows for higher concentrations of pollutants to affect lower volumes of water, which can easily fester when stagnant or slow-flowing. Hotter water temperatures and an increase in people or animal populations in the water also make for an excellent disease breeding ground.

Given that highly populated areas, such as the central district, release more treated wastewater and use up more of the freshwater sources, pollution can be dangerous in the summer months.

“Someone who wants to protect their health shouldn’t enter,” Tal warned of the country’s central streams, but she conceded that “the northern streams are considered clean.”

Northern stream rehabilitation efforts in sewage disposal, animal waste, and agriculture have progressed more than the central district, as they have been in the works for over 50 years to ensure the Kinneret drinking water remains clean.

Additionally, most streams in the north flow year-round and many of their sources remain unblocked. There is also a smaller population in the north, meaning less wastewater and contaminants.

While it is safe for people to enter northern streams, Tal said it is important to follow updates from the Environmental Protection Ministry and the Nature and Parks Authority. She recommended Nahal Kziv as the safest and most suitable option for summer swimming.