Israel water news

[Herzeleid]

this thread will be to put news about water issues in Israel.

[Herzeleid]

Desalinated water production to double with record-breaking plants.

The cabinet approved on Sunday the plan to build two desalination plants on the coast in the Sorek region. At 150 million cubic meters (mcm) of water per year, these would be the biggest reverse osmosis desalination plants in the world.

At present the Hadera plant, which began operating this year, is the biggest in the world (127 mcm). Saudia Arabia has bigger desalination plants, but they employ a different and more expensive technology.

The two plants, which would double the amount of desalinated water Israel will produce this year, are scheduled to begin operation in 2013. The push for desalinated water follows a government decision from 2008 which calls for 750 mcm annually by 2020.

When all of the current and planned desalination plants become fully operational, Israel will produce about 700 mcm per year.

There are three desalination plants currently in operation: Palmahim (45 mcm), Ashkelon (110 mcm) and Hadera (127 mcm). The two in the Sorek region would add 300 mcm, and one more to be built in Ashdod would add another roughly 100 mcm.

Total current household water consumption is about 750 mcm, so 700 mcm of desalinated water would represent a tremendous influx.

The desalination plants emerged to fend off the effects of reduced rainfall brought about by climate change as well as more than five years of below average rainfall. The lack of rain, and previous failed government efforts to complete desalination plants nearly five years ago, have left Israel with a serious water deficit, as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu noted at the start of the cabinet meeting.

“Over the last several years, the water market in Israel has been plunged into a deep crisis.

There is a gap of hundreds of millions of cubic meters of water that we need each year and these plants which we are planning will serve to fill that gap.

“The Sorek facility will provide about a fourth of the water that Israel is missing. It will include pumping facilities, a desalination plant on 300 dunams, water reservoirs, pipes for distribution, and a special electrical system. As such it represents an infrastructure project of high national importance,” he said.

The cabinet was also briefed about the water situation by National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau and officials from the Water Authority and Mekorot.

“We are still in the midst of a severe water crisis,” Landau said. “The amount of rainfall is disappointing, we are entering another summer with natural reservoirs which have too little water in them, and the aquifers are dwindling.

“The ministry, along with the Water Authority, is investing vast efforts in advancing desalination, water treatment plants and distribution systems in order to stabilize the situation.

“The plan in our hands enables us to leave behind the water crisis within three years.

“I expect all of the ministers of the government to support the development plan for the water economy and the required funding, to prevent the mistakes of the past. The public, which is doing its part, especially since the rise of water prices, expects the government to solve the problem of the lack of water and prevent the need in future for levies,” Landau said at the beginning of the discussion.

Connecting the desalination plants to the National Water Carrier is the national water company Mekorot’s biggest project since the Carrier itself was built in the 1960s. An influx of some 700 mcm from the coast will necessitate changing the flow of the Carrier itself from north-south to one that flows from the coast up and down the country. It will also require the construction of reservoirs to store the desalinated water until it is released into the Carrier and the construction of power plants to run the desalination plants. Water prices are expected to rise by as much as 40% by year’s end, to finance Mekorot’s construction.

The desalination plants themselves are BOT (Build- Operate-Transfer) and as such are constructed by private companies.

The SDL consortium – comprised of the Israeli company IDE and Hutchison Water – secured the tender to supply the government with desalinated water at a rate of NIS 2.01 per cubic meter.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=179016

[Herzeleid]

Turkey has cancelled the planned sale of 1.75 billion cubic feet of water per year to Israel. The sale was to help provide for Israel's water needs for 20 years.

The decision to cancel the sale was made in retaliation for a May 31 clash in which Israeli commandos boarded a Gaza-bound boat on which were members of the Turkish terrorist group IHH. Members of the group attacked the Israeli soldiers, who opened fire, killing nine.

Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said there will be no more sales to Israel unless Israel “apologizes and expresses its regret” for the incident.

It is unclear if the water project was to have gone forward prior to the flotilla clash. The project was originally planned in 2000, but little progress has been made since in putting it into action, due in part to the high cost of oil, which would have made the transported water prohibitively expensive.

The cancelled water project is not the first sign of Turkey's anger over the Gaza boats incident. Turkey has also recalled its ambassador, and has frozen a plan to supply Israel with natural gas from Russia using an underwater pipeline.

The cancellation of the gas project is unlikely to cause Israeli economic harm, as Israeli firms have discovered a major gas field off the coast of Haifa.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138163

[eduardo.vog]

It is simply stunning ( fucking amazing ) what Israel has done to assure water supply to its population; without a doubt, it is probably the biggest and most impressive engineering work of recent world history.

A couple of weeks ago, I read in a Spanish newspaper something that caught my attention: Israel has the world's highest rate of engineers/ per capita, something that I presume has to do with the Israeli knowledge and mastership on water issues.

I just wanted to ask: why are there so many engineers? Is that something related with the " natural challenges" the country had to face every since its foundation? Is engineering something that is socially highly valued? Does the Israeli school system stress the importance of physics and engineering- related matters?

Toda and good day!

PS- By the way : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...rier_of_Israel

[Herzeleid]

Originally Posted by eduardo.vog

I just wanted to ask: why are there so many engineers? Is that something related with the " natural challenges" the country had to face every since its foundation? Is engineering something that is socially highly valued? Does the Israeli school system stress the importance of physics and engineering- related matters?

i think its not so much an Israeli but a jewish thing, most jews all over the world are pushed by their parents to earn an university degree.....that or work in the family business...!

[Herzeleid]

100,000 Water-Conserving Devices Installed in Israeli Homes

Israel is beginning to take its water conservation to the next level. In the past two weeks, Water Authority contractor Milgam has installed over 100,000 water-conserving devices in over 40,000 homes in central and southern Israel.

The device, called a "chas-cham" (a play on words meaning a hot or live-conserver) is fitted onto a regular sink or bathtub faucet and conserves approximately one third of the water output of the faucet, without harming the user's experience of water flow.

Some 1,800 Milgam workers have been deployed for the purpose of the project, which will last for the next three months. The "Chas-cham" installation is free for homeowners and is part of a Water Authority initiative to conserve the country's water supply. Two million chas-chams are planned to be installed in Israeli homes. Each homeowner is given three free devices, two for bathtub faucets, and a third for a regular faucet in the kitchen or bathroom. The focus of the project is on bathtubs, since 35% of home water usage is from baths and showers.

The chas-ham installation team members arrive at Israeli homes wearing special uniforms and tags bearing the Water Authority logo, and install the devices without charge.

The chas-ham project is projected to save 25,000,000,000 liters of water per year, in a country where every drop counts.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/139172

[Herzeleid]

Israel to build 5th desalination plant

Finance Ministry says five plants will together supply 75% of country's drinking water by 2013

Associated Press
Published: 08.09.11

The Israeli Finance Ministry says it has granted a license for the country's fifth desalination plant, to be built in the coastal city of Ashdod.

The Mekorot water utility will build and operate the $423 million plant. It will use reverse osmosis to produce 100 million cubic meters of purified sea water a year by 2013.

The ministry said Monday that Israel's five plants will together supply 75% of the country's drinking water by 2013.

Mekorot Chairman Alex Wiznitzer says the plants will allow Israel to restore its natural water resources.

Israel currently gets most of its water from underground reservoirs and the Sea of Galilee. The country has been hit by several years of drought.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...106225,00.html

[Herzeleid]

Israel's Water to Flow East from 2013

Mekorot says the new National Water Carrier will rely on desalination and flow from west to east, instead of north to south.

by Gil Ronen

In about two years' time, Israel water company, Mekorot, intends to unveil a new National Water Carrier that will rely chiefly on desalinated water from plants along Israel's coast. The water in the Carrier will flow from west to east – and then north and south – thus bringing about "a revolution in the direction in which water is supplied in Israel," Mekorot Chairman Alex Vijneitzer said Thursday.
The original National Water Carrier – a network of canals and pipelines – currently carries water from the Sea of Galilee in Israel's north to central and southern Israel. The Carrier was completed in 1964.

Israel has relied increasingly on desalination plants, as the Sea of Galilee's water level have dropped ever lower. Recent drought years brought the water to emergency levels and Israel's Water Authority conducted a high profile advertising campaign in an attempt to get Israelis to conserve water.

Vijneitzer spoke Thursday at the signing ceremony of a franchise agreement for the Ashdod desalination project with Mekorot subsidiary Mekorot Development & Enterprise, which will plan, build and operate the plant. The Ashdod plant – Israel's fifth – is expected to produce 100 million cubic meters per year, constituting approximately 15% of Israel's domestic water consumption.

Vijneitzer promised that "Mekorot will invest every effort in building the plant in the record time of two years." The water sector's reliance on desalinated water "will also enable the rehabilitation of Israel's natural water reserves," he said.

The plant, which will be based on the reverse osmosis method, joins desalination plants in Ashkelon (120 million cubic meters), Palmachim (45 million cubic meters), Hadera (127 million cubic meters) and Sorek, which will also begin supplying water in 2013. As of the end of 2013, the five plants are expected to produce around 540 million cubic meters, constituting around 75% of the domestic water consumption.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/146644

[Ynhockey]

This was exposed on Channel 1 years ago but no one watches Channel 1...

IMO, It's great that they're relying less on the Sea of Galilee, but on the other hand it's bad that they're underutilizing the mountain aquifer (in the east). Political considerations are likely involved there, but there is much more water in the mountain aquifer than the Sea of Galilee, and it's not in any immediate danger.

[Herzeleid]

Palmahim plant seeks 45m. cubic meter desalination increase

Proposal would allow desalinated water to account for 85 percent of domestic consumption by the year 2013.

By SHARON UDASIN


The Palmahim desalination plant has submitted a proposal to the Interministerial Tenders Committee for Water Desalination to increase its output by 45 million cubic meters per year.

That would allow desalinated water to account for 85 percent of domestic consumption by the year 2013, the Finance Ministry announced in a statement on Wednesday.

Palmahim’s proposal was the sole response to a Tenders Committee call for the existing desalination facilities – Palmahim, Hadera and Ashkelon – to submit plans for expanded operation, the statement said. Having reviewed the proposal, the Tenders Committee will next check its compliance with legal, financial and engineering regulations, according to the ministry.

Under the proposal, Palmahim would increase its output to 90 million cubic meters per year in 2013. Tallying this addition with the other existing facilities as well as plants currently being developed in Soreq and Ashdod – slated to be complete in 2013 – the country would have a total supply of 587 million cubic meters of desalinated water annually by the end of that year, accounting for 85% of domestic water consumption and 45% of freshwater consumption, the ministry said.

The long-term price of the water will be established by the Tenders Committee after the compliance checks are complete and calculations of added operational costs of the expansion are determined, but for now and throughout the expansion will remain NIS 2.09 per cubic meter of water, similar to the price fixed for Soreq and significantly less than that of the other plants, according to the ministry. Ashkelon and Hadera have decided not to submit proposals for expansion, as the plants have deemed the water prices too low, the statement said.

http://www.jpost.com/Sci-Tech/Article.aspx?id=237128

[Herzeleid]

Report: Water conservation touted over desalination
By SHARON UDASIN

Groups says conservation is more effective at job creation; Landau stresses importance of diversifying water-saving methods.

Regional green group Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) attests that an increased focus on water conservation as opposed to streamlining efforts into expanding desalination facilities will be a more effective way to create green jobs and an exportable domestic market, according to an August report released earlier this week.

The report critiques some measures of the government’s response to the current water shortage, arguing that while increasing the desalination capacity is “sometimes necessary,” focusing on water-saving is overall a more effective strategy.

Expanding desalination efforts as per current government plans would free up an additional 430 million cubic meters of water per year and would create approximately 1,260 green jobs per year (2.84 jobs per million cubic meter), with 25 percent of those jobs skilled, according to FoEME report calculations. Water conservation would meanwhile make available only 316 million cubic meters of water per year but would create approximately 5,200 green jobs (16.5 jobs per million cubic meter), 63% of which would be skilled work, the report said.

“Desalination is a highly capital intensive method of producing water with much lower job creation potential than demand side approaches,” wrote the authors – Yedidya Sinclair, Efrath Silver, Gidon Bromberg and Youval Arbel.

Building upon the 2011 Green Economy Initiative of the United Nations Environment Program, the report defines green water jobs as long and short-term “jobs that reduce water consumption and overall enhance the sustainable growth of the water sector, avoiding water exploitation and pollution or any other kind of environmental pollution, and in addition offer adequate wages and job security (social benefits) to employees.”

While acknowledging that increased desalination efforts could in fact fill in the gaps to solve Israel’s water problems by 2013, the report warned that desalination also generates air pollution from energy consumption and requires use of large chunks of coastal land, damaging the local marine environments.

Therefore, in addition to maintaining current desalination projects, the authors recommended what they saw as more environmentally friendly and labor intensive measures – like reducing water loss from leakages, conducting rooftop rainwater collection, changing the types of plants used in gardens, raising prices in the agricultural sector, using grey water for both irrigation and toilets and raising awareness about water conservation.

“The 2009 water crisis in Israel prompted the introduction of water saving policies to reduce demand.

These measures are to be applauded,” the report said. “However, it is far from clear whether they will become permanent features of Israel’s water economy, or whether they will be relaxed when more desalination capacity comes on line.”

Indeed, the report had significant praise for Israel’s accomplishments in many of these water conservation measures, which began being heavily instituted in 2009 amid the current water crisis – such as installing water-saving devices, reducing leakages and waste in water systems and allocating water for city parks, the authors wrote.

“These initiatives are promising and commendable steps but are not yet widespread or permanent,” the authors wrote.

Once a steady domestic market in water conservation and efficient water use is ensured, then steadier exports of the ideas and technologies can occur, according to the report.

One way in which skilled green job opportunities and innovation can arise in this sector would be to “replace water intensive flora with more indigenous, water efficient species” in community gardens, whose irrigation currently accounts for 20% of all domestic and municipal water consumption, the report said. This could achieve a 50% reduction in water needs for the gardens, while creating sophisticated work in the process, the authors added. Legalizing grey water or even going so far as to oblige homes to use grey water would similarly create many types of jobs across the board, according to the report.

While he had not yet seen the report, National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau told The Jerusalem Post during an interview on Wednesday that although he feels expanding desalination efforts is still important, the government is also constantly diversifying its methods of water conservation.

“Obviously desalination is just one major thrust of providing water to our country and I would say to our region too,” Landau said. “Of course we’ll have to look into methods of conservation of water – desalination is not the only answer – and proper economic use of water should also be part of our developing subculture. We should provide those conditions in Israel for a modern country in which one could use as much water as he needs – that the country should be prepared to provide to the individual as much water as he needs, and he would pay the full price for it. At the same time, the individual should behave in a manner that he would use just the amount of water that a responsible person needs to have.”

http://www.jpost.com/Sci-Tech/Article.aspx?id=237997

[yerushalmi]

Originally Posted by Herzeleid

Yedidya Sinclair

yedidya sinclair? just by the name im guessing he must be quiet a character..
what does avishag portsmouth have to say on this issue?

[Herzeleid]

Israel’s desert climate makes water a rare treasure, but even as the country takes extreme measures to keep fresh water flowing to its citizens, the simple process of evaporation is making the battle even harder. Some estimate that 20% of Israel’s fresh water is lost to evaporation.

But two Israeli companies may be on the road to changing that all around. At Watec Israel, an international conference and exhibition on water technologies, renewable energy and environmental control, hosted from November 15-17 this year in Tel Aviv, Israeli national water company Mekorot agreed to a 20-year lease of a 100,000 square meter reservoir to Israel-based Aquate Group. Aquate specializes in floating reservoir covers that prevent a significant amount of the water from evaporating while providing a platform for renewable energy generation.

According to Aquate, the 20-year project with Mekorot will save 4 million cubic meters of water from evaporating and will create about 6 MW of clean power for the Israeli grid. Aquate will bear the operations and maintenance costs of the project.

“Signed in the national level and alongside national committees for assessing best options for green growth, this agreement may position Israel as a leading national actor that quantifies the economic costs of alternative solutions as well as conventional solutions with the aim of maximizing national long-term economic benefits,” said Aquate Group Marketing Communications Director Maya Ben Dror.

The floating platform’s ability to act as both a reservoir enhancer and a platform for additional renewable energy projects makes it a particularly revolutionary technology, Aquate Group said in a statement. The company estimates that the project will be worth a net of $45 million (USD) to Israel’s national economy because of the platform’s dual role.

Mekorot operates over 100 reservoirs in Israel. If the project is successful, it is likely it will be implemented on a larger scale.

“The project is expected to be the first in a series on projects between the parties, with the aim of enhancing all national and privately owned reservoirs,” Aquate group said.

http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/11/...-water-israel/

[Herzeleid]

National water company predicts that increase desalination will create substantial surplus of water within eight years

Zvi Lavi
Published: 02.09.12, 07:16 / Israel Environment

Israel may face a happy predicament within a decade – a water surplus. Mekorot, the national water company, said Wednesday that the increased desalination of seawater will eventually enable Israel to rehabilitate all of its fresh water reservoirs.

The heads of Mekorot briefed the Knesset's Economics Committee on the situation of Israel's water market, in a meeting marking the company's 75th anniversary.

Currently, Israel is missing 2B cubic meters of water, but Mekorot's data suggests that by 2013, 75% of Israeli households would be using desalinated water.

Israel has six desalination facilities, which produce 600 million cubic meters of water a year.

Existing fresh water reservoirs would remain a pivotal source for the water market and stand to enjoy the reduced production, the company said; adding that reduced pumping would also help rehabilitate the Coastal Aquifer – one of the most important sources of groundwater in Israel.

Mekorot also said that one of its long-term goals is to create a second, desalinated water-designated carrier to funnel the water, which are currently used mostly for irrigation.

Israel's agricultural irrigation is slated to be based completely on desalinated and brackish water by 2030.

Mekorot Chairman Alex Wiznitzer added that the company was also exploring the possibility of building its own power plant, adjacent to the desalination facility in Ashdod.

Mekorot stands to receive government funds amounting to NIS 6 billion (roughly $1.61 billion) over the next five years in favor of its desalination projects.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...186794,00.html