Rabbi Menachem Perl, the head of the Tzomet Institute on technology and Jewish law, supports the request of Member of Knesset Yaakov Asher of United Torah Judaism, who sent a letter to Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz demanding that he direct water corporations to install only water meters that do not violate the Sabbath.
Relying on a ruling issued by Chief Rabbi David Lau, MK Asher has raised a problem that has stirred controversy among the observant public: Do digital water counters cause water consumers to commit an offense every time they turn on the tap on the Sabbath due to suspicions that the electric system registers the action?
Rabbi Menachem Perl told Arutz 7 that just as they do not want religious coercion, it is inconceivable that there will be secular coercion. He conceded, "The digital water meters, on the one hand, save legwork for the meter readers, are more accurate and even prevent water theft, but they must on meters that don't harm Halakhah (Jewish law) and bring desecration of the Sabbath."