Southern towns without clean water for second day after new pipe installed
'There was no warning,' says area resident as locals reportedly buy up six-packs of water bottles; Health Ministry says water in Netivot now OK 'for any use'
Residents of southern Israel on Thursday said they were suffering a second day without clean water, after issues were discovered during installation of a new water line a day earlier.
People living in Sderot, Netivot and a number of smaller communities near the Gaza border were told by the Health Ministry late Wednesday to run their taps until the water runs clear and to boil water before consuming it.
That came several hours after the Mekorot water company reported that the installation of a new water pipe had run into problems.
Mekorot said at the time that it would work all night to deal with flow issues. However, as of early Thursday evening, residents of the communities were still without clean water except in Netivot, where the Health Ministry said samples came back clean.
Netivot residents may can now use water “for any use,” the ministry said.
According to the Walla news site, local residents were buying up six-packs of bottled water from local stores, while some wrote on Facebook that their kids were suffering from stomach pains and diarrhea.
“There was no warning,” Shani Mazuz, a resident of the area, was quoted as saying by the news site.
A resident of Kfar Maimon, a moshav in the area, said the situation was “intolerable.”
“If this was in Tel Aviv they would have fixed it in an hour,” the resident told Channel 12 news.
The Health Ministry said water samples were continuing in other communities, with results to be reported when they come in.