Temporary desalination plants will be set up within months to cope with the severe drought and huge water shortage for households and agriculture, Water Authority chairman Uri Shani said yesterday at a conference on Israel's water policy at the Kinneret Academic College.
Shani added, "The decision to build temporary desalination plants was the most feasible solution to implement. Temporary desalination plants will operate for three to five years at an estimated cost of €1.30 per cubic meter of water."
Permanent desalination plants take three years to build, but the severe drought requires an immediate solution, so it was decided to move forward on the temporary plants as fast as possible. The Water Authority decided to build desalination plants with capacities of 70-90 million cubic meters of water per year, compared with the 100-million cubic meter capacity of current desalination plants.
The temporary desalination plants will be built adjacent to current plants at Ashkelon, Hadera, and Maagan Michael, as well as in other locations.
The Water Authority is also considering other ways to boost water production, including maximum exploitation of natural sources, drilling more wells, and treating contaminated water.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 18, 2009
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