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Water Context 12/12
Last update: 2008-01-04

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Israel Water Context

  1. Abstract – Introduction
  2. Geographic Background
  3. Water Consumption
  4. The Water Sources
  1. Rainfall
  2. Surface Water
  3. The Coastal Aquifer
  4. The Kinneret Basin
  1. The Mountain Aquifer
  2. Small Basins
  3. The Water Conveyance System
  4. Alternative Water Sources

12.  Alternative Water Sources

Currently, Israel exploits its natural sources of water almost completely. Against this, consumption of water is gradually increasing with the increase in population and the rise in the quality of life. In order to meet the demand for water Israel is constantly developing alternative water sources, such as desalination of seawater and reuse of treated sewage water.

Desalination

The first desalination installations were established in Israel in 1965 in the south of the country, to cover the demands for drinking water in the arid areas. Today there are around 30 small desalination plants operating that desalinate ~30 million m3/yr. Most of these installations are spread in the Arava and the Negev. The largest of them (~11 million m3/yr) is located in Elat and desalinates saline water and Red Sea water for use of the city's inhabitants.

Recently, the Israeli government decided to take action towards establishing large desalination installations along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. According to this plan, these installations would supply 305 million m3/yr of desalinated water by the year 2010 and 500 million m3/yr by 2015. This amount would constitute a quarter of the total fresh water in Israel. The first installation, using the reverse osmosis method, was established near Ashqelon and began to provide 100 million m3/yr at the end of 2005. Four other installations are in different stages of planning and establishment, two in the north (130 million m3/yr) and two in the south (75 million m3/yr).

There is a lot of advantage in desalinating sea water. Firstly, this means an addition of potable water to the Israeli water economy. Attaching a permanent source of water to the national water system that is not dependent on rain will improve the reliability of the supply. In addition, with the desalination of water, saline water which today cannot be used will be able to be utilized, by diluting it to the level of drinking water. "Surplus" water deriving directly from desalinated water or water diluted with desalinated water, can be penetrated into the aquifers to rehabilitate them.

Reuse of treated sewage water

The recycling process of sewage is of great importance. First and foremost it constitutes a solution to the problem of environmental hazards, which include contamination of soils, coasts and water reservoirs, and damage to vegetable and animal life. Furthermore, after the recycling process, the purified water can be returned to agricultural usage. It should be noted that sewage contains around 99.8% water and only 0.2% waste materials, and therefore proper treatment of this water can remove the waste and create a substitute source of water.

The purification potential of purified sewage water can reach to around two-thirds of the total domestic and industrial consumption, which is estimated today at ~840 million m3/yr; thus the purified sewage potential stands at ~55 million m3/yr. This amount constitutes around a quarter of the total consumption of water in Israel and around half of the total consumption of agriculture.

Today more than 95% of all the sewage is collected in sewers, the rest flows to cesspits or is not collected. Over 90% is treated in the various sewage purification plants, though as of today, only ~300 million m3/yr is exploited for agriculture.

Operating in Israel today are more than 120 purification installations spread throughout the country, the newest of them operating the activated  sludge method. The largest plant is located in the Rishon LeZiyyon area and recycles the sewage of the metropolitan Dan area in which around 1.5 million people live. In addition, the plant treats ~10 million m3/yr of industrial effluents. In total, the plant treated ~138 million m3 in 2003, all of which was transported to the northern Negev for agricultural use. Other large plants are found in the Haifa area (~40 million m3/yr) for use of the farmers in the Yizre'el Valley, the Nahal Soreq-west Jerusalem area (20 million m3/yr), and the Nahal Og and Qidron-east Jerusalem area (5 million m3/yr).

The purified sewage water that is returned to agriculture must meet the strict standards of the Ministry of Health; as of today its quality is considered only good for irrigation. This water must be transported to the agricultural areas in separate pipelines. However, the infrastructure for it is not yet completed, and therefore a considerable part of the treated water today flows to the sea and is not exploited.

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