Israel plans largest desal plant in $513M deal

Israel issued a tender today for its largest-ever seawater desalination plant capable of producing 150 million cubic meters (39.6 billion U.S. gallons) of water a year.

The 2 billion shekel ($513 million) plant is planned for the western Soreq region, south of Tel Aviv near the Mediterranean, to address the water shortages exacerbated by recent low rainfall and negotiations with Palestine and Syria.

The country's Finance Ministry said four groups are expected to submit bids to build and operate the plant before transferring it to the state.

The country already has two desalination plants operating in central and southern Israel that jointly produce 130 million cubic meters of water a year. The government plans to expand the capacity of those two plants to 187 million cubic meters.

A third desal plant is scheduled to be commissioned in the city of Hadera later this year. The cost of the 100 million cubic-meter plant is estimated at 1.5 billion shekels.

Also today, Israeli national water company Mekorot said it plans to build a 100 million cubic meter desal plant in the southern town of Ashdod. Mekorot supplies 80 percent of Israel's drinking water and 70 percent of its entire water supply (see Israel's Mekorot to develop water infrastructure in India).

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates is also addressing water shortages with plan for three small-scale plants built by Denver, Colo.-based engineering firm CH2M Hill.

Two of the reverse-osmosis desal plants, Layyah and Khor Fakka, have been online since October, with the third, Kalba, under construction and expected to be online by mid-2009.

Together, the three plants are expected to produce 60,000 cubic meters (16 million gallons) per day.

Layyah and Khor Fakka plants incorporate dual-stage media filters to treat raw seawater before it reaches the reverse-osmosis system. The Layyah site also uses a dissolved air floatation system to remove particulates protect against oil spills and algae blooms.

The Kalba plant is expected to use ultrafiltration membranes.

CH2M is building the plants for Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority.

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