Israel Proves the Desalination Era Is Here

[Draggingtree]

Scientific American: Israel Proves the Desalination Era Is Here

One of the driest countries on Earth now makes more freshwater than it needs

· By Rowan Jacobsen, Ensia on July 29, 2016

· From Ensia (find the original story here); reprinted with permission.

· July 19, 2016 — Ten miles south of Tel Aviv, I stand on a catwalk over two concrete reservoirs the size of football fields and watch water pour into them from a massive pipe emerging from the sand. The pipe is so large I could walk through it standing upright, were it not full of Mediterranean seawater pumped from an intake a mile offshore.

 

· “Now, that’s a pump!” Edo Bar-Zeev shouts to me over the din of the motors, grinning with undisguised awe at the scene before us. The reservoirs beneath us contain several feet of sand through which the seawater filters before making its way to a vast metal hangar, where it is transformed into enough drinking water to supply 1.5 million people.

 

· We are standing above the new Sorek desalination plant, the largest reverse-osmosis desal facility in the world, and we are staring at Israel’s salvation. Just a few years ago,

[righteousmomma]

Very interesting article. Thanks, Draggingtree.

[Geee]

Thanks @Draggingtree - I have often wondered why California doesn't use this kind of tech since it IS right on the ocean. This answers some of my questions, but also proves that the problems can be overcome. It seems that California Tech shouldn't be all about electronics