Residents of Moshav Bnei Dror, who are unable to use their tap water for drinking or cooking because it is polluted, are threatening legal action if they are not either supplied with an alternative water source or reimbursed for the bottled water they are currently using instead.

The Sharon-area moshav's water was declared unsafe to drink a few weeks ago, after the level of nitrates in the local well exceeded the permitted maximum.

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The Health Ministry had warned the local water corporation a year ago that the nitrate level was approaching dangerous levels, but the problem has still not been solved.

In a letter sent yesterday to the health, environment, national infrastructure and interior ministers, the moshav's lawyer, Nava Sendar, threatened legal action unless the residents' problem is solved promptly.

"Not one of the authorized bodies is trying to resolve the situation," she charged.

In her letter to the ministers, Sendar wrote that while the moshav was slated to be connected to the Mekorot Water Company in June, it was untenable to demand that residents continue to buy bottled water for the next six months.

The residents would have to purchase the bottled water their own expense.

The problem of high nitrate levels in water has surfaced in a few other Sharon-area communities. In those areas, too, residents have been forced to stop using tap water.