How Much of Israel’s Water Is Monitored? 13.5% of 2,184 Fuel Facilities
13.5% of Israel’s 2,184 known fuel facilities were monitored for water pollution, the State Comptroller reported for November 2020.
13.5% of Israel’s 2,184 known fuel facilities were monitored for water pollution, the State Comptroller of Israel reported in Annual Report 72a, on data as at November 2020. The same audit put monitoring at 8.3% of all industrial zones in Israel, and recorded that pollution was found at 72% of monitoring sites. Every one of those shares counts facilities, zones or sites, not volumes of water.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 13.5% | Share of 2,184 known fuel facilities monitored | November 2020 |
| 8.3% | Share of all industrial zones in Israel monitored | November 2020 |
| 72% | Share of monitoring sites where pollution was found | November 2020 |
| 17 of 35 | Fuel tank farms not monitored, of 35 farms in total | November 2020 |
| 21% | Share of 130 sites polluted with fuel solvents in a rehabilitation process | November 2020 |
| 2.3 billion cubic metres | Total known volume of polluted water, about 6.5% of a coastal aquifer of about 35 billion cubic metres | 2020 |
| 2.24 billion cubic metres | Total water consumption in Israel | 2019 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, Annual Report 72a, Prevention of the Pollution and Salination of Water Sources, Their Monitoring and Rehabilitation.
The Comptroller found 13.5% of 2,184 fuel facilities monitored
13.5% of the 2,184 known fuel facilities were monitored, and 8.3% of all industrial zones in Israel, on figures the State Comptroller of Israel published as at November 2020. Both are the Comptroller’s own count of the monitoring coverage of Israeli government bodies, drawn from an audit of the Water and Sewage Authority, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Defence, Netzer HaSharon Ltd and the Ministry of Finance conducted June to December 2020, with completion checks at the Ministry of Health. The audit’s own footnote records that some industrial zones contain no activity posing a risk to water sources.
Pollution was found at 72% of monitoring sites
Pollution was found at 72% of monitoring sites, and at 79% of the fuel facilities that were monitored, the State Comptroller of Israel recorded as at November 2020. Both are shares of places where monitoring was carried out, on the Comptroller’s own audit of Israeli government bodies, so neither is a share of Israel’s water and neither is a national contamination rate. The 79% sits inside the 13.5% of the 2,184 fuel facilities that were monitored at all.
| Share where pollution was found | Universe it is a share of | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 72% | Monitoring sites | November 2020 |
| 79% | The monitored fuel facilities, drawn from 2,184 known facilities | November 2020 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, Annual Report 72a.
17 of 35 fuel tank farms were not monitored
17 fuel tank farms were not monitored, out of 35 farms in total, the State Comptroller of Israel reported as at November 2020. The audit counts monitoring and rehabilitation separately, and on the Comptroller’s own count of the Israeli bodies it examined, 21% of the 130 sites polluted with fuel solvents were in a rehabilitation process, while no rehabilitation actions were carried out at 77% of the sites where industrial pollution was found.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 17 of 35 | Fuel tank farms not monitored | November 2020 |
| 21% | Of 130 solvent-polluted sites, those in a rehabilitation process | November 2020 |
| 77% | Of sites where industrial pollution was found, those with no rehabilitation actions | November 2020 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, Annual Report 72a.
The shares count sites, not the 2.24 billion cubic metres consumed
Each coverage share in the audit has its own denominator, and none of them is a quantity of water:
- 13.5% is a share of 2,184 known fuel facilities.
- 8.3% is a share of all industrial zones in Israel.
- 72% is a share of monitoring sites.
- 21% is a share of the 130 sites polluted with fuel solvents.
- 79% is a share of the fuel facilities that were monitored.
The audit’s water volumes are separate figures. The State Comptroller of Israel reported total water consumption in Israel of 2.24 billion cubic metres in 2019, and put the total known volume of polluted water at 2.3 billion cubic metres in 2020, which it states is about 6.5% of a coastal aquifer of about 35 billion cubic metres. On the Comptroller’s own count, that 6.5% is a share of one aquifer’s volume, not of the water consumed.
No figure here gives the share of drinking water tested
The State Comptroller of Israel’s 2021 audit examines the monitoring of natural water sources for pollution and salination, with the focus on groundwater reservoirs. No Israeli publication in this record carries a share of supplied drinking water sampled, a count of samples taken, or a Ministry of Health testing coverage figure.
What Israeli bodies do publish on water in this record:
- Monitoring coverage of sites and facilities, and pollution found at monitored sites, which the State Comptroller of Israel reported as at November 2020.
- Combined freshwater consumption for Palestinians and Israelis in one figure, with no split between them, which the State Comptroller of Israel publishes in its chapter on selected issues in the Samaria water economy.
- A projection of about 600,000 Gaza residents to be served by a new water line, which the Israel Defense Forces published on 19 August 2025 as its own count of its own activity, stated as a projection of who will be served rather than a count of who has been served.
Which of these figures may not be added together?
The State Comptroller of Israel published each share against its own universe, and none of the five may be summed, averaged or restated as a share of Israel’s water. The 79% and the 77% are nested inside other figures: 79% is of the monitored fuel facilities, 77% is of the sites where industrial pollution was found. Monitoring sites are places where monitoring is carried out, so the 72% is not a contamination rate for the country. The 2.24 billion cubic metres is consumption in 2019 and the 2.3 billion cubic metres is a stock of known polluted water in 2020; the two are different quantities for different years and their near-equality supports no comparison. The audit’s own hedges stay: about 6.5%, about 35 billion cubic metres. A rehabilitation cost estimate in the same panel dates from 2015 and is not carried here.
Questions readers ask
How much of Israel’s water does the audit say is monitored?
The State Comptroller of Israel reported coverage as a share of sites and facilities, not of water, and published no share of Israel’s water that is monitored.
What share of fuel facilities was monitored?
The State Comptroller of Israel recorded 13.5% of 2,184 known fuel facilities as monitored, as at November 2020.
What share of industrial zones was monitored?
The State Comptroller of Israel put monitoring at 8.3% of all industrial zones in Israel as at November 2020, and its own footnote records that some zones contain no activity posing a risk to water sources.
What is the 72% a share of?
The State Comptroller of Israel recorded 72% as the share of monitoring sites in which pollution was found, as at November 2020.
How many fuel tank farms were unmonitored?
The State Comptroller of Israel reported 17 of 35 fuel tank farms as not monitored, as at November 2020.
How much water does Israel consume?
The State Comptroller of Israel published total water consumption in Israel of 2.24 billion cubic metres for 2019.
How much water is known to be polluted?
The State Comptroller of Israel put the total known volume of polluted water at 2.3 billion cubic metres in 2020, about 6.5% of a coastal aquifer of about 35 billion cubic metres.
How many solvent-polluted sites are being rehabilitated?
The State Comptroller of Israel recorded 21% of the 130 sites polluted with fuel solvents as being in a rehabilitation process, as at November 2020.
Which bodies did the audit examine?
The State Comptroller of Israel examined the Water and Sewage Authority, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Defence, Netzer HaSharon Ltd and the Ministry of Finance, with completion checks at the Ministry of Health.
When was the audit conducted?
The State Comptroller of Israel conducted the audit June to December 2020 and published it in Annual Report 72a, part two, in 2021.
Why does groundwater carry the audit’s focus?
The State Comptroller of Israel records that groundwater supplies about half the world’s drinking water and about 40% of water for agriculture, and directed the audit to groundwater reservoirs.
Does any figure here give a drinking-water testing rate?
No. The State Comptroller of Israel published monitoring coverage for water sources, and this record carries no share of supplied drinking water sampled.
Sources
- Israel Defense Forces, 2025. Clearing Up the Misconceptions: Everything You Need to Know About the Humanitarian Aid Situation in Gaza. idf.il. Official or primary record, self-reported by a party to the conflict.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2021. Prevention of the Pollution and Salination of Water Sources, Their Monitoring and Rehabilitation. Annual Report 72a, part two, printed pp. 1334 onward. mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel. Selected Issues in the Samaria Water Economy. Reports on the audit of local government, printed pp. 511 onward. mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
