(IsraelNN.com) Journalists were afforded a rare tour inside the huge pipes that  supply water to all of Israel last week.

The Mekorot (‘Sources’) National Water Company held the tour at the end of large-scale pumping and infrastructure work on one of the segments of the National Water Carrier, near Rosh HaAyin.

The author descends into the underground water system

Journalists in protective gear ready to enter the water carrier

The author climbs into the pipe

A giant duct in the National Water Carrier

Because the pressure is so great, the water must be routed through the side pipes in order to open or close the ducts

The work was carried out in order to link up a new water line for the delivery of water from the Hadera seawater desalination facility to the National Water Carrier. At Kibbutz Metzer, a huge gash in the earth has been dug, with piping laid out to connect the existing carrier with the Hadera plant, Israel's newest desalination facility.

Aerial photo of the laying of new piping to connect the Hadera deslination plant with the carrier
(Photo: Mekorot)

Wearing boots and protective gear, two groups of journalists were led down through a utility structure and through a hatch – into the huge pipes of the water carrier itself.

Water still flows at the bottom of the pipe
(Photo: Ezra HaLevi)

“This way brings water to Tel Aviv and this way to Jerusalem,” Mekorot Chairman Eli Ronen said at a fork in the pipes.

Right to Jerusalem, left to Tel Aviv

Mekorot Chairman Eli Ronen

Israel’s Water: Facts and Figures
Mekorot supplies those living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea with 1.5 billion cubic meters of water per year via 10,500  kilometers of pipes.

The water carrier combines various sources, including the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), the aquifer beneath Judea and Samaria, 1,040 wells, 91 reservoirs and 31 desalination plants.

Israel leads the world in recycling wastewater – reusing 75 % of it for agricultural purposes. Spain, in second place, trails the Jewish state with 12 %.

“The treated wastewater supplied by the company for agricultural use complies with strict health standards and contributes to preserving the environment by reducing ecological damage caused by untreated wastewater,” the company reports.

Israeli produce grown using reclaimed water includes oranges, carrots, potatoes, lettuce, wheat and flowers.

The symbol of the Mekorot National Water Co.

Ongoing and Future Projects
* The Ashdod Seawater Desalination Plant, to be Israel’s largest, is set to be completed in 2011. It will be one of the most advanced in the world and will produce 100 million cubic meters of water per year.

* The Fifth Line to Jerusalem, a new pipe to Jerusalem and the surrounding region - being laid beneath the Judean Hills -  is intended to provide for increased water demand in the region. It will supply 500,000 cubic meters of water a day.

A piece of piping near Kibbutz Metzer

* The Third Line to the Negev is a series of 90-km-long pipes to supply more drinking water to the Negev as its population grows, as well as to pump treated water from the  Dan Region Wastewater treatment plant to Negev farmers.

* Eilat, which is far from the National Carrier, has a number of deslination plants, which are being upgraded and improved.

A map shows the National Water Carrier

Click here for an English map of the carrier

The Ze'ev Facility, near Rosh Ha'Ayin, just before much-needed rain
(Photo: Ezra HaLevi)

(Photos, except where otherwise noted: Josh Shamsi, Arutz-7 Photojournalist)