Industrial Wastewater

On August 2011, the Rules of Water and Sewage Corporations (Discharge of Industrial Wastewater into the Sewage System), 2011 (hereinafter, the Wastewater Rules), entered into force, specifying various provisions regarding the regulation of industrial wastewater transmission to prevent damages to the sewage system, wastewater treatment procedures and the use of treated wastewater, and the prevention of public and environmental hazards.

Industrial wastewater and their consequences:

Industrial wastewater are wastewater originating from industry that is discharged into the sewage system, not including any domestic wastewater. Industrial wastewater may contain organic and non-organic materials, heavy metals, pesticides, fertilizers and more. It is therefore important to treat it already at the discharge source, in order to avoid damages and contaminations to transmission systems.

Industrial wastewater have a much greater potential for environmental damage than their relative part in municipal wastewater. Industrial wastewater may contain different pollutants with a wide range of effects. These effects may include damages to transmission and treatment systems of municipal wastewater, damage to the quality of municipal treated wastewater or the contamination of soil and groundwater.

According to the Wastewater Rules:

A factory shall not discharge wastewater considered “discharge prohibited wastewater”, whether directly or indirectly, to the corporation’s sewage system.

The discharge of “irregular wastewater” into the sewage system by a factory shall be subject to notification to and the appropriate authorization from the corporation and the Ministry of Environmental Protection, in accordance with section 10a of the Wastewater Rules.

In accordance with the Rules, the corporation conducts an annual monitoring and control plan for wastewater originating in factories, where discharge of industrial wastewater into the sewage system against the Rules is suspected, and in accordance with previous sampling conducted in factories. The annual monitoring plan encompasses the list of sampled businesses in Be’er Sheva and Ofakim, and specifies sampling parameters and frequency for each business.

In accordance with the Rules, factories are required to bear the cost of sampling and testing according to the rates specified in the Rules of Water and Sewage Corporations (Rates for Water and Sewage Services and Water or Sewage System Construction), 2009 (hereinafter, the Rates Rules). Sampling costs are calculated by the corporation according to the sampling parameters for each business.

Factories found by the corporation to discharge irregular wastewater or discharge prohibited wastewater shall be charged according to the rates specified for such wastewater in the Rates Rules. The calculations of levies for irregular and prohibited wastewater are made according to the guidelines specified by the Water Authority.

The Rules of Water and Sewage Corporations (Discharge of Industrial Wastewater into the Sewage System), 2014 [Hebrew].

Publishing the results of wastewater sampling on the corporation’s website:

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Law, 1988, and the Freedom of Information Regulations (Presenting Environmental Information for Public Review), 2009, the Mey Sheva Corporation publishes the results of industrial wastewater sampling conducted under the annual monitoring plan on its website. Factories that are included in the monitoring plan and object to such publication, may notify the corporation, specifying the reasons for their objection.