Israel is located in a highly fragile desert environment with meager water resources. The country’s only freshwater lake, the Sea of Galilee, is drying up. The only major river, the River Jordan, is a shrinking thread of waste and saline water. The Dead Sea is under threat of extinction.
Given the above harsh realities and the frequent occurrence of drought, Israel started to focus on better management of water which included wastewater management, awareness building, irrigation efficiency, and an aggressive leak-reduction program. Israel has invested heavily in securing their water sources and recycling used water. Nearly half of Israel’s water is manufactured. These are the initiatives which have cemented Israel’s reputation as a responsible water manager and justly so.
- Desalinization of sea water: Desalination plants using the RO system is a major technology for converting seawater into drinking water. This system is highly energy intensive and expensive too.
How does it apply to India: According to Desalination Association of India, the production cost of a brackish water desalination plant could be Rs 10 to 15 per m3 while the production cost for a seawater desalination plant varies between Rs 40 to 50 per m3. It is relatively more expensive than recycling treated water (like the Newater produced from sewage in Singapore). With further filtration and RO process, the treated sewage water can be converted into potable water, at a cost of around Rs. 15–20 per m3.
2. Recycling of wastewater: Israel treats close to85 percent of its wastewater which it then uses for irrigation, gardening and industrial purposes. It is here that Israel leads the world by recycling 90 percent of its wastewater. About 87 percent of this recycled water is reused. About half of Israel’s irrigation is by wastewater.
How does it apply to India: Options such as sewage and grey water recycling should be taken up in earnest to ease civic bodies’ water supply burden. However, in reality, we treat less than 10-15% of the sewage generated in the country. Despite several high-profile attempts to reduce the pollution of the River Ganga, Uttar Pradesh (UP) only has 27 sewage treatment plants (STPs) with a total installed capacity of 795.5 million litres per day (MLD), as against the 1,312 MLD generated by 1.21 crore city population of UP. In addition, the intermittent failure of sewage treatment plants constructed during the two Ganga Action Plans due to the lack of funds to pay energy dues. In towns and rural areas, we need to go for decentralized STPs to locally recycle the treated sewage.
3. Aggressive leak reduction program: Another crucial element is strengthening water supply infrastructure to prevent losses arising from transit leakages. Israel considers only five percent loss as the acceptable level of leakage in transit. This is achieved by an aggressive program of tracing and plugging leaks. Small start-up firms in Israel have developed real-time sensors that detect minor leaks and alert the authorities. With Israel emerging as the world leader in this field, several other governments have also hired these firms to tackle their transit losses of water.
How does apply to India: There is enormous loss of water through leakages in transit. For example, Delhi loses 40 percent of its supplied water to leaks caused by damaged infrastructure. This is true in other cities as well. We can hire Israeli firms to help us reduce the leakage of water in transit with the use sensors.
4. Atmospheric water generator: It is used to generate water straight from the humidity present in the atmosphere. This is an expensive technology.
How does it apply to India: Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has developed the Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG) that employs a novel technology to extract water from the humidity present in the atmosphere and purify it. It uses heat exchange for condensing the atmospheric moisture to produce pure, safe and clean potable water. The AWG comes with a Mineralisation Unit, which is used to add minerals which are required to make the water potable. A 1,000 LPD model will cost more than ₹10 lakh and a 100 LPD unit ₹2 lakh in India.
5. Groundwater recharge: In 1964, in Israel, the national water supply system incorporated artificial recharge of groundwater, to utilise aquifers as seasonal storage. By the turn of the century, depleted aquifers, dying springs, and a fall in the level of the Dead Sea shifted the focus to water conservation. The country now recharges its aquifers with treated wastewater and has also embarked on extensive monitoring of aquifers.
How does it apply to India: Rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge are the best options to tackle water scarcity for India. Increased focus should be laid on caring for water bodies; lakes and cascading tanks should be desilted and rejuvenated on a priority basis to save every drop of rainwater before spending precious time and resources in extravagant options such as desalination or atmospheric water generators.
To sum up, Israel’s interventions for water management rely heavily on energy-intensive technologies and highly trained staff with adequate funds to manage both, in addition to high level continuing R&D to upgrade technologies. On the contrary, India has a history of municipalities lacking the infrastructure and funds as well as trained staff to maintain technologically intensive interventions. What we need is to strengthen water supply infrastructure, recycle wastewater, and recharge groundwater before we go for expensive desalination and or atmospheric water generator technologies. While implementing such solutions, we can see if there are technological and management inputs that can come from the experience of Israel.
