Mekorot is a world leader in the design, development and operation of desalination facilities. With over 40 years of experience desalinating sea and brackish water, its expertise ranges from design, construction and project management to operation, training and maintenance.
Mekorot’s technologies, methodology and know-how have enabled it to attain impressive achievements in the areas of water economy while decreasing energy consumption and membrane usage. As a result, it is able to reliably produce large quantities of high-quality desalinated water at low prices.
A Pioneer in Desalination
Mekorot’s Desalination and Special Projects Division is a pioneer in reverse osmosis (RO) technology. It currently operates 31 reverse osmosis (RO) and electro dialysis (ED) desalination plants throughout Israel with a daily capacity of nearly a million cubic meters of seawater and brackish water. This represents approximately 5% of total worldwide desalination capacity, a significant achievement considering Israel’s small size.
Mekorot’s ongoing R&D efforts have enabled it to achieve remarkable results in the areas of operations and water savings. For example, it has increased its desalination of brackish water from 50% in 1980 to a current level of 78%, while slashing operating costs.
Example: Mekorot’s Sabcha C Seawater Desalination Plant in Eilat, Israel’s first commercial RO facility, is the only desalination plant in the world that treats a mixture of sea water and reject brine from an adjacent brackish water desalination facility.
Through an ambitious master plan, by 2010 Mekorot intends to increase its desalination production nearly seven fold to 200 million cubic meters annually, of which 100 million will be derived from sea water, 77 million from brackish water and 13 million from secondary effluents (treated wastewater).
Mekorot views desalination as the primary means of enhancing Israel’s few – and depleting – water sources. Further desalination activities will also enable the company to upgrade secondary effluents for unrestricted agricultural use, provide additional water supply to remote locations and rehabilitate the country’s aquifers.
Desalination Capabilities
Mekorot’s desalination experts are available for consultation to water companies throughout the world to help them optimize their desalination methods. Its overall capabilities include:
- Feasability studies for tailoring of optimal designs to site specific needs
- Pilot plant scale testing
- Facilities design for seawater and polluted water desalination , rehabilitation of old wells and aquifers, and retrofitting of old desalination plants
Driving Down the Cost of Desalination
Mekorot’s Desalination Division is recognized worldwide for its implementation of advanced and economical desalination facilities.
Mekorot collaborates with leading universities and research institutions, membrane manufacturers and equipment suppliers to improve the performance and reduce the costs of reverse osmosis (RO) technologies. Through research projects supported by the EU, MEDRC and CIIRDF, Mekorot conducts pilot tests of anti-scalants, integrated membrane systems (IMS) operation and major RO membranes.
Mekorot’s current R&D activities focus on the development of new design approaches, optimization of advanced treatment methods, investigation of the influence of seasons on changes in sea water and optimization using UF/MF. |
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40 Years of Desalination Activity
1965 to 1982: desalination of sea water in Eilat using the evaporation method
1986: introduction of reverse osmosis (RO) technologies
1987: first commercial installation of brackish water desalination plant
1991: opening of experimental sea water desalination plant in Ashdod
1997: initial operation of a hybrid facility for desalination in Eilat
1999: design of a large 45 million cu. m. SWRO plant in Ashdod
2000: wastewater desalination unit pilot project through the framework of a EU research plan at Shafdan
2004: first boron reduction system in Eilat |