The blessed olive year could turn into an environmental disaster

An exceptionally abundant olive harvest in northern Israel threatens to become an environmental disaster: the acidic liquid waste from olive presses, known as 'aker', has begun flowing into the Carmiel wastewater treatment plant and could shut it down. Without a budget for collecting the aker, raw sewage is expected to flow into the Galilee streams and the Sea of Galilee. The Water Authority has not allocated funding for a solution for the upcoming season.

An exceptionally abundant olive harvest in northern Israel is turning into a real environmental threat. Managers of the Carmiel wastewater treatment plant have detected in recent days that aker – the acidic liquid produced during olive oil extraction – has begun flowing into the sewage system along with wastewater from central Galilee communities. A water and sewage official described the feeling as 'like in Game of Thrones, when the guards on the walls suddenly see the horizon filled with barbarians about to charge.' The CEO of Mekorot Development and Initiative, Barak Garber, sent an urgent appeal to the Water Authority, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and the Ministry of Health, warning that without immediate intervention, the aker will shut down the treatment plant, raw sewage will be discharged into Galilee streams and the seashore, and farmers will not receive treated wastewater for irrigation. There are concerns that the sewage will overflow into the Tzalamon stream and from there into the Sea of Galilee. The solution used in recent years – collecting aker from olive presses and spreading it as fertilizer in orchards – was budgeted by the Water Authority at about 700,000 to 1 million shekels per year, but for the current harvest season (2026-2027), no dedicated budget was allocated. The NGO 'Zalul' contacted government agencies two weeks ago and warned of devastating consequences. The Water Authority responded that it sees utmost importance in preventing the discharge of aker, but unfortunately government ministries did not allocate a dedicated budget for the upcoming season, and referred responsibility to water corporations and regional councils. The article notes that the Ministry of Environmental Protection has launched an enforcement operation against olive presses that dump aker into the sewage system, but without a systemic solution, enforcement will not suffice.