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The total water consumption in Israel grew drastically in the second half of the 20th century, from ~230 million m3/yr in 1948 to ~2060 million m3/yr today. Half the total consumption demand is from the agricultural sector, mainly for irrigation. The remaining demand comes from the domestic-urban sector (720 million m3/yr) and from the industrial sector (120 million m3/yr). The remainder is devoted to restoration of the aquifer (100 million m3/yr), and according to law, is allocated to the Kingdom of Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (100 million m3/yr), and to the continuing maintenance of the natural plant habitat of the country (25 million m3/yr). An additional amount of water (~30 million m3/yr), which is not included in the total consumption, leaks from the coastal aquifers naturally to the Mediterranean Sea, preventing intrusion of saline water to these aquifers.
The total consumption in Israel is supplied at various water qualities, in accord with the demand of each and every sector and the decentralization capability of the water transport systems. The demand for potable (drinking) water constitutes around 75% of the total consumption. Most of the drinking water is supplied to the domestic-urban sector (720 million m3/yr) and to the agricultural sector (530-560 million m3/yr). Many industrial plants are found near concentrations of the population and therefore they too use the potable water (85 million m3/yr). The quality of the potable water supplied to all the sectors meets the strict standards set by the Israeli Ministry of Health, in accord with the scientific and technological progress in the world. The demand for purified water constitutes around 15% of the total consumption and is supplied only to the agricultural sector. The demand for saline water constitutes around 10% of the total consumption and is supplied to agriculture for resistant agricultural crops (160 million m3/yr) and to the large chemical plants in the Negev and at the Dead Sea (40 million m3/yr).
Distribution of the total water consumption, according to use.
Distribution of potable water consumption according to use.
Fluctuations occurred in the demand for water in the different sectors in the course of the years. Consumption of the industrial sector steadily rose slowly, from ~40 million m3/yr in the 1960s up to ~120 million m3/yr today. The consumption of the domestic-urban sector also rose steadily as a result of the growth in population and the rise in standard of living. In 1997 the domestic consumption was ~600 million m3/yr and it rose to ~720 million m3/yr today. The consumption of the agricultural sector changes in accord with the expansion of agricultural areas, on the one hand, and with the cuts in the water allocations because of economic considerations or operations, on the other. In the last two decades many agricultural areas and the transport systems to them were converted to irrigation with saline or purified water. As evidence, despite being the largest consumer of water in the country, the agricultural sector is only the second largest consumer of drinking- quality water. In the northern Negev, for example, the purified water constitutes around 70% of all the irrigation water.
On the whole, total water consumption in Israel increased, beginning in the 1990s, by about 30-50 million m3/yr, and is expected to reach ~2800 million m3/yr in the year 2020.
The
change in annual consumption in the main sectors (agriculture, domestic,
industrial) between 1993 and 2003
Distribution of water consumption
of the agricultural sector
by water quality, 1993-2003
The adaptable consumption of water per person, that is, the total consumption minus the agricultural and industrial consumption divided by the number of residents in the country, has been stable for at least around ten years and is estimated to be around 105 m3 per person per year. This volume includes within it also the allocation of water given to the local authorities for many uses in their areas (amortization, municipal irrigation, swimming pools, fire extinguishing, etc.). The adaptable consumption of water for domiciles only is lower and is estimated as ~60 m3/yr per person.
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