Israel Proves the Desalination Era Is Here

Israel's recently constructed Sorek Desalination Plant is the largest reverse-osmosis facility in the world. It has completely changed the scope of water availability in Israel, which recently underwent its worst drought in at least 900 years. A few years ago, in the midst of this drought, Israel was running out of water, yet now it has a surplus. National campaigns to conserve and reuse Israel's already strained water resources turned vice into virtue. Israel exists in the middle of a dry desert with an excess amount of water. This is largely due to Israel's investment in water desalination plants.

Desalination has largely been considered a last resort due to the difficulty of precluding microorganisms in seawater from spoiling the process of removing the salt particles from the water. But Israelis have managed to develop a chemical-free system using lava stone to capture the microorganisms before they're able to do any damage.

This is just one of many breakthroughs that have made desalination technology more efficient. Israel now gets 55 percent of its domestic water from desalination, and that has helped to turn one of the world’s driest countries into a bona fide water giant.

Being pushed to the brink of a severe water shortage has forced Israel to learn to squeeze more out of a drop of water than any other nation on the planet. Israeli research has not only pioneered new techniques in drip irrigation, water treatment, and desalination, but it has led Israelis to develop resilient well systems for African villages and biological digesters that can halve the water usage of most homes.

Israel believes its technologies can help its thirsty neighbors solve their water shortages as well, and hopefully, in the process, turn enemies into friends.

Source: Scientific American

Off to enjoy a dip in the ocean, till next time!

J