About

What is Mei Modiin?

Mei Modiin, a company that works as the water and sewage cooperation, was established by the municipality of Modiin-Maccabim-Reut under the Water and Sewage Cooperation Law (2001). The main goals of Mei Modiin are to provide water service for residents, to provide a disposal service of the city sewage to wastewater institutes and to maintain the municipal water and sewage. In the future, Mei Modiin will also develop infrastructure for water and sewage in the new neighborhoods that will be built.

Why was Mei Modiin established?

The State of Israel decided, according to the law, that every municipality must establish its own water and sewage cooperation by the end of 2007 or the municipality must join the nearest one to its location. The State’s rationale in setting up local water and sewage operations was mainly to ensure separation of water and sewage operations from other municipality operations thereby allocating money to invest to upgrade the water and sewage systems in the city.

Who are the owners of Mei Modiin?

The municipality of Modin-Maccabim-Reut is the owner of the Mei Modiin and hold 100% of the shares. In the future, the municipality reserves the right to sell some of its shares upon approval from the State.

Who supervises the activities of Mei Modiin?

Mei Modiin is under the supervision of the Public Water Authority and under the state regulator who's in charge of the water and sewage cooperations in the Ministry of National Infrastructures. Mei Modiin must show the regulator the financial statements and other statements that reflect their activity in the city regarding the water and sewage.

In addition, Mei Modiin provides all information to the public. Mei Modiin appointed an external accountant to prepare the financial reports and an additional external accountant to conduct the internal review. The city counsil appointer Mei Modiin a board of directors which was approved by the "Raviv Committee". Some of the directors are part of the Modiin Municipality and some were appointed by the public. The board meets regularly to review the financial reports and to assure working plans and other company plans.

Does Mei Modiin provide services only to the residents of Modin-Maccabim-Reut?

The Mei Modiin water cooperation received their operation license from the State. For now they provide services only to the residents of Modiin-Maccabim-Reut but in the future they are expected to take care of other municipalities in the area.

What are Mei Modiin’s responsibilities when it comes to fixing water and sewage problems?

The law dictates that Mei Modiin is obligated to treat any problems in the water system up to the main water meter of a building or in the case of a private home, up to the water meter of the home. If there are any problems with the building's water meters, in the building area, the parking lot etc., those are problems that are considered private and are the residents’ responsibility.

If problems in the sewage system arise, Mei Modiin is responsible to take care of the city problems and is not permitted to deal with problems which occur inside homes. The exact border between private and public lines in the city can be found in the Sanitation Appendix that is submitted by the building contractor.

What is Mei Modiin’s activity span?

Mei Modiin provides service for the residents of Modiin-Maccabim-Reut which in 2011 numbered 76,000 people and 22,000 consumers (homes and businesses); the total amount of water usage for the city reaches 5,330,00 cubic units.

What is the water source for Modiin-Macabim-Reut?

All the water that is used in the city is acquired from the Mekorot Company. The Mekorot Company brings the water from the mountain aquifer drilling, from the national water carrier or from water desalination facilities. In 2011 the amount of water used in the area was 5,330,00 cubic units and was bought from Mekort for an annual fee of 20,000,000 NIS.

How is Israel's water consumption regulated?

The water system in Israel is a national water system that combines all the water sources in the area and allows moving them to different areas. As a result, sometimes Tel Aviv will get a third of their water from groundwater and two thirds from the Kinneret or desalination seawater, or the reverse. Sometimes the national water system will bring water from the south to the north because the south had more rain.

Is it advisable or permissible to drink tap water?

The drinking water in Israel is provided at the highest sanitary level. It is important to point out that it is Mei Modiin’s responsibility to provide water to the consumer’s main water meter. From that point, how the water is taken care of once it gets to the consumer’s building or home is not Mei Modiin’s responsibility. If the building has equipment for water treatment such as storage containers, filters, devices to prevent backflow, etc., one must ensure that proper maintenance is provided for the equipment according to the manufacturer’s label. One must also replace and change filters, clean the pressure points and take care of water containers according to the recommendations on this site, and wash home water pipes in new homes. In any case, when a problem arises in one’s home system, call a professional. Homes that adhere to these instructions can certainly drink the tap water.

Who enforces the water regulations in Israel?

The Health Ministry is in charge of the water regulations and the enforcement of water quality regulations.

How do you ensure the quality of the water?

The removal process of bacteria from the water is done through disinfection with chlorine. The use of chlorine to ensure high quality water is done by the Mekorot Company in a tightly supervised process and is under the regulations and guidelines of the Health Ministry.

How does the water get checked and who checks it?

Mei Modiin workers, qualified by the Health Ministry, perform microbiological testing and chlorine and fluoride tests on the water. The samples are sent to the Health Ministry lab and they report any deviation in water quality. Chemical testing is done on the water by external companies. Water samples are taken from input lines (connection sources), storage pools and municipal pipe networks, according to the Health Ministry regulations. The chemical components in the water sources are tested according to the size of the population and geographic dispersion and based on the water regulation rules of the Health Ministry.

Is water with chlorine safe to drink?

Yes. Many tests have proven that a small amount of chlorine is safe. Although there are those who say there is an aftertaste.

What are coliforms and why are they in the drinking water?

Coliforms are a type of bacteria that can be found in human and animal intestines. Therefore, their presence in the drinking water can reveal that there are other bacteria in the water which can cause sickness. Mei Modiin checks if these bacteria are present in the water to ensure the water is safe to drink according to the guidelines of the Health Ministry.

Can someone get sick as a result of drinking the water?

Diseases that are caused from drinking water usually cause vomiting and diarrhea. Those diseases are usually a result of not testing the water or not taking care of it. Due to the strict level of water hygiene in Israel, there have only been a few rare cases of disease from water consumption.

Can the water quality be tested by water color, taste or smell?

These three signs are important and one must be aware of them. One should not drink water that doesn’t look clean, that tastes bad or smells bad. But if there is a noticeable chlorine smell, remember that it’s added to the water according to the water regulations and guidelines.

Is it advisable or permissible to drink tap water?

During the stream of water passing through the pipes, sand settles at the bottom of the pipes as a result of drilling. Due to change in pressure, repair or maintenance work in private homes or city work, there can be small amounts of sand that is mixed in with the water flow that reaches the residents’ homes. In such cases, it is recommended to let the water run for a bit. As such, we reiterate and remind private consumers to take care of proper maintenance of their home appliances used for drinking water.

Why is our drinking water sometimes white?

Our drinking water can turn white as a result of the air bubbles in the water. This happens when we pump water from one place to another or when there is a lot of pressure on the water. The bubbles disappear from the drinking water within a few seconds. They have no effect on our health.

Why does the drinking water have a yellow, brown or red coloring?

The source for all these colors in our drinking water is from accumulated rust in our home’s pipelines that is made from metal or steel. It usually happens in a pipeline that wasn’t used for a long time. The colors aren’t poisonous and when this happens you have to let the water run until it’s clear.

Why does the drinking water have green coloring?

In houses which have water storage tanks on their rooftop and weren’t treated properly, the green coloring in the water is a result of algae.

What is “hard water”?

The hardness in the water is a result of two minerals – calcium and magnesium. There are those that say that “hard water” is called that because of the calcium and magnesium that make laundry come out feeling stiff. Water that contains a small amount of those minerals is called “soft water”. The “hard water” in Israel originated from the mountain aquifer pumped drilling which have rocks rich in calcium and magnesium. Some of the water that the Mekorot Company provides for Modiin comes from drilling in places like those. When both of the minerals are in the water, they can cause scale when heating up the water. These minerals aren’t harmful to one’s health.

Fluoride in drinking water

Fluoride is added to water in Israel by law. For any questions about the fluoride in the drinking water, please call the Health Ministry: Health Ministry, Dental Lab, 02-531-4871, 02-531-4804 or 02-568-1451, 02-568-1272, 02-568-1268.

The water prices are set by the Water Authority Council. For more information on water prices click here.

Click here for the link to the Water Authority’s websitelick here for the link to the Water Authority’s website – legislation – rules – water and sewage rules (calculation of the cost of water and sewage services and the establishment of the water and sewage system) 2009.

How to appeal your water bill?

Upon receipt of the bill, check all the details including dates for submission of appeals at the expense of the water corporation. The appeal will be handled according to the guidelines set forth by the Water Regulations and Rules of Water and Sewage. Appealing a bill cannot be grounds for failure to pay the water bill. According to Article 108 of the Law Water and Sewage 2001, the Government Water and Sewage Authority will inquire into consumer complaints to the water and sewage corporation, provided that the consumer turned first to Mei Modiin.

Payment of water bill and information on enforcement

The law dictates that One must pay the water bill by the date that is stated on the bill. If one doesn’t pay the bill he will be charged additional interest. Please note: if you don’t pay the bill you will be sued, or you will be disconnected from the water meter. After payment, it will take 48 hours to reconnect and you will have to pay the water renewal price.

Is the water cooperation allowed to disconnect residents from the water supply?

Mei Modiin is allowed to disconnect all residents of Modiin from the water supply, except for handicapped people, only if they neglect to pay their water bill and haven’t responded to warnings that were sent to them. Along with this, Mei Modiin must act according to procedures that are set by the law regarding disconnecting water and acts with full discretion in these cases.

Is there a water allocation for special residents?

As determined by the Knesset Finance Committee, a disabled person recognized by National Insurance (Bituach Leumi), is eligible for an additional 3.5 cubic meters of water at the lower monthly rate. For water rates click here.

The list of eligible parties is a sealed list that is transferred to Mei Modiin by the National Insurance Institute. The Water Authority and Mei Modiin are unable to change this list. According to the Knesset Finance Committee, the following are specific groups that are eligible for benefits:

- Pensioners, as defined under section 251 of the National Insurance (New Version) 1995 (hereafter - the National Insurance Act).
- Aid recipients at a rate of at least 150% according to the National Insurance law.

- Special needs recipients according to the National Insurance law.
- Mobile disability according to the National Insurance law.
- Disabled child recipients according to the National Insurance law.
- Disability benefits recipients who have an established medical disability of at least 70% according to the National Insurance law.

Benefits will appear on the water bill and will be given retroactively from July 1, 2012.
For detailed information about benefits visit the Water Authority site.
For inquiries and questions, call the Water Authority information center: 072-275-5440.

For more information on Common Needs, click here

For more information about Water Leaks, click here

For more information on the Excessive Water Use, click here

For procedures to change the name of the consumer or to get approval for the absence of debts/land registration (tabo), click here

What materials and products cause sewer blockages?

From experience, most of the sewage blockages in home sewers are caused mainly by hygiene products such as wipes, disposable diapers, and feminine hygiene products. These products can soak up water and cause blockages in your home sewer, your neighborhood and even your city. When there’s a blockage, the sewage overflows and causes environmental disturbances and sanitation issues.

What is Mei Modiin’s responsibility in fixing the sewage?

Mei Modiin is required by law to fix all problems in the city up to the boundary of private property. The boundary is determined and defined in the Sanitation Appendix that is submitted by the building contractor.

How can you water your garden efficiently and econimically?

Watering your garden using sprinklers is allowed from May till October between the hours of 7 pm and 7 am. Watering during the cool hours, when there are no gusts of wind, reduce evaporation and prevent diseases to the leaves.

Plant plants that are known to be water efficient plants.

Create a limit to watering the plant according to the weather and the plant’s needs.

Equip your garden with either timers or a computerized irrigation system that saves on water and is healthy for vegetation.

Cover the garden with generous amounts of coating material to prevent drying and warming climate and soil to reduce the development of weeds in the garden.

Divide your garden by plants that need less watering and plants that need more.

Make sure there is space between the plants so that the roots will grow deeper and your plants will be stronger.

Cut the grass in your garden frequently, this will reduce the amount of water you need to water the grass.

Cut branches that are not needed as they use extra water.

Spread large amounts of compost in your garden which preserves the water in the ground.

What home activities use the most water?

Flushing the toilet - 40%

Baths and showers - 32%

Laundry -14%

Dishwashing - 6%

Cooking and drinking water - 5%

Bathroom sink - 3%

Cleaning the house - 4%