Hagihon Ltd. (Hebrew: הגיחון) is the municipal water and waste water works corporation for the city of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, Israel. Since 2010, Hagihon also services the neighboring towns of Mevaseret Zion and Abu Gosh. Hagihon is Israel's largest water and sewage authority with a yearly budget of over 600 million shekels. Hagihon was founded in 1996 by the municipality of Jerusalem and operates as an independent corporation by the authority of the Water & Sewage Corporations Law. Hagihon became officially independent from the municipality of Jerusalem in 2003. Since 2014, Hagihon's Chairman of the board of is Avi Balashnikov. Hagihon provides water and sewage services to ~1 million residents of the greater Jerusalem area including

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...

, Mevaseret Zion and Abu Gosh, spanning 32,500 acres. Hagihon was one of the first large water works systems to install smart sensors for early detection of leaks. Hagihon's name is taken from ancient Jerusalem's main water source, the Gihon Spring.

Sorek wastewater plant

Through its daughter company MAVTI (the Jerusalem Company for Sewage and Treatment Plants), Hagihon runs three waste treatment plants, the largest being the Sorek-Rephaim sewage treatment plant, inaugurated in 1999. The Sorek plant is the third largest wase water treatment plant in Israel and treats over 100,000 Cubic Meters of wastewater per day. Wastewater from the

Rephaim In the Hebrew Bible, as well as non-Jews, Jewish ancient texts from the region, the Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic term Rephaite or Repha'im (cf. the plural word in ; , ) refers either to a people of greater-than-average height and ...

sewage basin is directed to the Sorek basin through the Kerem tunnel under Mount Ora. From the Sorek basin, the water is carried to the Sorek treatment plant. At the Sorek plant waste water is treated using the

activated sludge The activated sludge process is a type of biological wastewater treatment process for treating sewage or Industrial wastewater treatment, industrial wastewaters using aeration and a biological floc (biofilm), floc composed of bacteria and protozoa ...

method.

Organic matter Organic matter, organic material or natural organic matter is the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have come fro ...

is separated using microorganisms and used to produce methane gas, which supplies 70% of the plant's electricity requirements. The debris remaining from the organic matter are used as a

fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

. The treated water flows into the Sorek river bed in the area of Kibbutz Tzora, where it is utilized for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

5th water line to Jerusalem

A 5th water line to Jerusalem is planned to be completed by Mekorot by the year 2065. To store and regulate water from the 5th line, Hagihon plans to build a water reservoir at the Jerusalem Sacher park with a volume of 25,000 cubic meters. A sports field is planned to be built above the reservoir.

East Jerusalem

In 2014, following severe water supply disruptions, residents of the

neighborhoods situated behind the separation barrier, Ras Hamis, Ras Shahada, Dahyat a-Salam and the Shu'afat Refugee Camp, petitioned the

Israeli supreme court The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...

to force Hagihon to restore full water supply to the area. In response, Hagigon spokesman claimed that the rapid growth, lack of proper urban planning and rampant use of unauthorized "pirated" pipes in east Jerusalem have overwhelmed the infrastructure. As of 2018, only ~44% of East Jerusalem residents were connected to the Haghion water network in a regulated and legal fashion. Seasonal flooding due to poor drainage systems is also common across East Jerusalem. Palestinian civil rights organizations have accused Hagihon of illegally appropriating large water quantities from Palestinians. Kidron stream restoration Currently, part of East Jerusalem's and the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...

's sewage water flows freely into the Kidron stream causing severe environmental damage in the

Judean desert The Judaean Desert or Judean Desert (, ) is a desert in the West Bank and Israel that stretches east of the ridge of the Judaean Mountains and in their rain shadow, so east of Jerusalem, and descends to the Dead Sea. Under the name El-Bariyah, ...

and the

Dead sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

area. In a rare collaboration with the Palestinian Authority, Hagihon is leading the Kidron stream restoration project with a budget of close to a billion shekels. According to the plan the sewage flow to the stream will be stopped and diverted to a new collection line, through an 8-km long pipe to the Og purification facility. To avoid damage to the natural valley as well as to the Mar Saba Monastery and nearby archeological sites, the route of the sewage line was diverted from the stream itself, through a 60 meter deep, 1.3 km long tunnel. The project also includes the construction of a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

station to generate green electricity. The

purified water Purified water is water that has been mechanically filtered or processed to remove impurities and make it suitable for use. Distilled water was, formerly, the most common form of purified water, but, in recent years, water is more frequently pu ...

will be used for agriculture and irrigation of palm groves in the Jordan Valley and the Palestinian Authority.{{Cite web , title=How is Jerusalem's sewage regulated? - new report , url=https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/all-news/article-712429 , access-date=2022-09-28 , website=The Jerusalem Post {{! JPost.com , date=18 July 2022 , language=en-US

References

Jerusalem District Jerusalem Water supply and sanitation in Israel Utilities of Israel Israeli companies established in 1996

Sorek wastewater plant

5th water line to Jerusalem

East Jerusalem

Further reading

References