The National Water Carrier (NWC) is a visionary infrastructure project that Mekorot constructed over a two-decade period in the 1950s and 1960s, with construction completed in 1964.

A single water network linking most of the regional water projects throughout the country, the NWC is able to convey 450 million cu.m of water per year.

The NWC was intended originally to supply irrigation water to the central and southern regions of Israel, but since the early 1990s has been supplying more than half of the country’s drinking water.

The concept behind the NWC was to combine Israel’s three fresh water sources: the Sea of Galilee and its catchment basin, the Mountain aquifer and the Coastal aquifer to provide water to Israel’s arid southern region.

In practice, the Sea of Galilee has become the NWC’s primary natural reservoir, and provides water to Israel’s dense population centers as well as to the South.

In addition, the NWC water is used to recharge aquifers and groundwater to reduce the significant loss of water through evaporation of its surface reservoirs. 

The Sea of Galilee is a lake that covers 168 square kilometers and contains 4 billion cu.m. of water. It receives the majority of its water – approximately 520 million cu.m. – from the

Jordan River, which itself receives water from three major tributaries: the Dan, which contributes 250 million cu.m. per year;

the Snir (Hatsbani), which contributes 150 million cu.m. per year; 

the Hermon (Banias), which contributes 120 million cu.m. per year.

Total inflow from the lake’s catchment basin is approximately 850 million cu.m. per year. Some 300 million cu.m. of water evaporate from the lake each year, and the remainder, or is available for pumping. Of this amount, approximately 400 million cu.m. per year is pumped into the NWC.

The route of the NWC covers mountains, streams and rocky terrain, challenges that were overcome by digging tunnels and constructing inverted siphons. For 35 kilometers of its route, the water travels through open canals.

Among the solutions used to convey water from one region to another are advanced pumps and mechanized devices and sophisticated control centers.

Water enters the NWC through a pipeline submerged in the Northern part of the lake, and flows to a pumping station.

The pumping station, located in a mountain cavern, contains 30,000 hp pumps that force the water into pressure pipes.

The pressure pipes raise the water from 213 below sea level to 44 meters above sea level. Construction and excavation of the giant station was one of the most complex tasks of the NWC project.

The water is discharged into the 17 kilometer Jordan Canal, and from there into the Tsalmon Canal, an operational reservoir with a capacity of 1 million cu.m. 

The Tsalmon Pumping Station lifts water another 115 meters into the 17 kilometer

Beit Netofa canal, bringing it to the Eshkol reservoirs, which contains sludge removal, chlorination and water testing facilities. From this facility, water enters an 86 kilometer pipeline to the Yarkon-Negev system at Rosh Ha’ayin.

Part of the route includes several tunnels that are remarkable engineering feats. Several additional pumping stations have also been constructed to increase the capacity of the NWC and enable additional sources of water to be conveyed by the NWC from the Rishon Lezion area southward.

The Saline Carrier was built by Mekorot in the 1960s to ‘catch’ the flow of saline springs flowing into the Sea of Galilee in order to lower its salinity.

Rather than allow the saline water to enter the Sea of Galilee, the Saline Carrier carries it to the Jordan River at a point south of the lake, enabling it to flow into the Dead Sea.

The Saline Carrier is 22 kilometers in length and conveys 22 million cu.m. per year. Its usage has cut the salinity of the lake in half by half.

Additional steps taken to lower the NWC’s salinity include diluting of the water in the carrier with well water, together with maintenance of an optimum level of the lake.

Significant energy is required to operate the NWC, primarily to lift the water from 209-213 meters below sea level to an elevation of 150 meters above sea level. In fact, the NWC consumes approximately 100 megawatts per hour, or 4% of all electricity produced in Israel.

Savings in electrical consumption have been achieved by employing innovative technologies and by operating during minimum electricity tariff hours.

To increase irrigation water available for the Negev, Mekorot established the Third Pipeline. The water for this pipeline is created through the treatment of effluents at the Dan Region treatment plant. The Third Pipeline carries 110 million cu.m. of water per year. 

Continuing to Innovate

Mekorot continues to innovate with the goal of continually improving Israel’s water services. Major building projects currently underway include:

• National filtration plant
• Seawater desalination facility in Ashdod
• Brackish water desalination facilities in Lahat and Atlit       
• Enhancing of water system security
• Preparing for integration of water from the seawater desalination plants
• Expansion of the Shafdan and other wastewater reclamation plants
• Development of the Fifth Pipeline to Jerusalem
• Connection of local authorities to the national grid