“Israel produces the largest amount of desalinated water in the world”
Ofer Fine – “I am VP of operations at the Via Maris desalination group, which operates one of the ten largest desalination plants in the world. Amazingly enough, just a couple of years ago Israel was in a serious water crisis. Ask every Israeli and he will tell you about the famous commercial where the model’s face cracks as a symbol of our country drying up as we run out of water.
It was during that crisis when we started to construct the facility in Palmachim. It was 2005, and it took us two years to start converting sea water to fresh water. We began providing 30 MCM (million cubic meters) of fresh water a year and today, after we have expanded our plant, we provide 90 MCM.
Together with the three other desalination plants in the country, Israel produces around 600 MCM of fresh water a year – the largest amount in the world. 80% of the domestic consumption of fresh water in Israel comes from the desalination plants and the country is actually exporting fresh water to Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and the Gaza strip.
I am happy that I had the opportunity to take part in the process of solving Israel’s fresh water issue, using the crisis as leverage to become the world’s leading country in desalination solutions.”
