Kvutzat Shiller, a kibbutz in central Israel, uses two different sources for its drinking water supply. The first is a kibbutz-owned well that pumps water from the aquifer. Although relatively inexpensive, the salinity level of this water varies from season to season, sometimes exceeding the nitrate level of 70mg/l permitted by Israeli water quality regulations. The second source is ‘Mekorot’, the national water company and top agency for water management in Israel, which supplies the country’s drinking water. This water is more expensive than water drawn from the kibbutz aquifer. To minimize the cost of drinking water by maximizing aquifer-sourced water, while remaining in strict compliance with regulations concerning nitrate levels, the kibbutz would manually mix the two water sources.

The manual management of the water-mixing ratio relied on the experience of the local technician in opening and closing a gate valve and sampling the water once a week. If nitrate levels exceeded regulations, the drinking water in the kibbutz was substandard for several days – left unchecked, this could harm residents and even result in the Ministry of Health closing down the kibbutz well.

If nitrate levels dropped below permitted levels, the kibbutz missed out on the opportunity to pay less for its water by including a greater proportion from the aquifer into the mix. Since the 250 m3 reservoir is filled four times a day, this could translate into a loss of over $2000 every 24 hours. In one year, this happened several times, costing the kibbutz $20,000. What’s more, in the event of a problem at the mixing junction outside of the weekly sampling event, there may be a 24–48-hour delay before the technician found out.

The kibbutz approached Aquestia for a more efficient and reliable solution