By EHUD ZION WALDOKS
12/20/2010 04:08

Price of water for agriculture, industry, hospitals and any other non-residential sector will rise in January.

The Water Authority Council decided late last week not to raise water prices again for households, as it had planned to do next month.

Given the lack of rain and the uncertainty of the winter, the council decided it was not the right time to raise prices by another few percentage points. Therefore prices will remain at NIS 7.44 per cubic meter for the first 10.19 cu. m. used and NIS 10.755 per cu. m. after that.

However, the price of water for agriculture, industry, hospitals and any other non-residential sector will rise in January, though the amount of the increase has not yet been set.

In the residential sector, prices have risen 32% in 2010 as part of an effort to make the price of water reflect the cost of producing it. Desalination has added significant costs to the process, which includes both buying the desalinated water from the private plants and building the pipes to carry it around the country. Raising water prices is also meant to help local water corporations begin repairing aging infrastructure.

Meanwhile, a week after the Health Ministry instructed residents of Safed’s Canaan neighborhood to stop using tap water for drinking, cooking or showers because kerosene was accidentally piped into the system, the ministry gave the all-clear on Sunday.

After performing a number of tests, it found that the water reaching the faucets was safe for all uses.

Safed Mayor Ilan Shohat thanked the ministry for its assistance.

Residents were provided with alternate sources of water during the crisis.

Judy Siegel contributed to this report.

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