Shocked workers at the Tiberias plant found about 7,000 shekels ($2,000) of the dirty money, all in 200 shekel bills among the smelly sewage. Israeli TV showed the bills sticking out of sewage and stuck in pipes. The bills were cut in half.
"I called the police but they didn't believe me. At first they thought I was playing a prank," plant manager Haim Cohen told Israeli reporters.
"When police did arrive, they didn't believe me and left," Cohen said. "Later on, different officers came and sifted through the sewage to see for themselves."
Israeli media speculated that the stash might have been the result of a domestic dispute, and that one partner might have cut up the bills and flushed them down the toilet to punish the other.
An Israeli police spokesman said the money might have been linked to criminals, and police are investigating.
