Last update - 00:00 14/10/2007
Environmentalists call for moratorium on new desalination plants
By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
The dedication several weeks ago of the Palmahim water desalination plant points to the accelerated pace with which such facilities are being built in Israel. The eventual target is to supply nearly two-thirds of current water use from natural sources (Lake Kinneret and groundwater) with desalinated seawater.
Experts in the field claim this is a critical contribution to water quality that will enable the rehabilitation of streams and nature preserves. But two weeks ago, environmental organizations called for halting the development of desalination facilities and focusing instead on reducing water usage and purifying waste water.
The desalination plants in Ashkelon and Palmahim currently produce desalinated water at an annual rate of about 135 million cubic meters. The Hadera plant, due to be completed in 2009, will produce about 100 million cubic meters a year.
Similar-sized plants, currently in the approval stage, will be built in Ashdod and south of Rishon Letzion by 2012. The plants can be expanded to reach a combined annual production capacity of about 500 million cubic meters - representing about two-thirds of household water use from natural sources.
According to the report on Israel's preparations for global warming that was presented to the Knesset two weeks ago by environmental organizations and the legislature's environmental-social caucus, the desalination plants extract a high environmental and economic cost in their construction and operation (which consumes enormous amounts of petroleum energy).
The plants also require large amounts of coastal land, and will direct a high concentration of salts and chemicals into the sea, causing concomitant ecological damage.
Environmental groups call for a moratorium on new desalination plants, beyond the ones already in the advanced bidding stages. "We believe that even in 2020, we can make do with desalination 315 million cubic meters," the report says.
It calls for promoting the reduced water use, the treatment of wastewater and the recycling of "gray" water (from baths, bathroom sinks and washing machines), as well as using construction techniques that allow rainwater to percolate into underground water reservoirs.
The authors of the report claim that this would reduce the need for massive desalination of seawater and the environmental damage it causes, including the emission of greenhouse gases.
They say such measures could reduce Israel's yearly household water consumption by 360 million cubic meters (more than the output of three large desalination plants).
Planners in the Israel Water Authority say the environmental damage caused by desalination is negligible: The effect of the chemical and salt runoff is not significant, and the plants have increased their energy efficiency, resulting in a reduction in the price of desalinated water. Calculations put the energy cost of desalinating one billion cubic meters of seawater at 3 percent of the country's total electricity use.
A plan devised four years ago by water engineer Giora Shaham calls for supplying nearly 90 percent of the population with desalinated water, which would allow for allocating significant amounts of water for restoring streams and other natural resources.