A microalgae population explosion stretching for kilometres across\nthe Mediterranean Sea has caused the temporary halt of operations at\nseveral of Israel\u2019s major desalination plants this week. This threatens\nthe country\u2019s main source of drinking water.<\/p>\n
Five of the country\u2019s six coastal desalination plants\u2014which convert\nseawater into potable water\u2014ceased operations on Sunday, according to\nMekorot, Israel\u2019s national water company. Since then, some of the\nprivately owned and operated facilities have partially resumed\noperations, but only one was operating at full capacity by Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn event of this kind has never happened before in Israel\u2026 this is a\nvery rare occurrence,\u201d said Lior Gutman, a spokesman for Mekorot.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the situation is worrying given the country\u2019s heavy\nreliance on desalination for its drinking water needs. Israel is an arid\nregion with no major rivers or abundant rainfall, yet mastery of this\ntechnology has made it a water superpower.<\/p>\n
Despite possessing such water supply technology, it should be noted\nthat Israel\u2019s occupation has caused the Palestinian territories,\nespecially Gaza, to suffer severe water shortages. The destruction of\nwater facilities in Gaza is a deliberate act that was announced by the\nperpetrators of crimes against humanity in Israel since the start of the\ngenocide in 2023.<\/p>\n
Currently, desalination provides at least 65 percent of Israel\u2019s\ndrinking water needs, with most plants located along the Mediterranean\ncoast. The problem began at the weekend, when there was \u201ca widespread\nand sporadic contamination event along Israel\u2019s coastline,\u201d said Edo\nBar-Zeev, an associate professor of water research at Ben-Gurion\nUniversity in Israel.<\/p>\n
When he and other scientists conducted further examinations, they\nfound that the cause was microalgae\u2014microscopic organisms that use\nsunlight, carbon dioxide and nutrients in the water to survive, and have\nthe ability to multiply rapidly.<\/p>\n
The microalgae bloom\u2014which stretched at least more than a dozen miles\naccording to Bar-Zeev\u2014is believed to have originated in the Nile Delta\nand moved northwards with ocean currents to Israel\u2019s coast. This is \u201cthe\nfirst time I have seen a phenomenon of this magnitude,\u201d said Bar-Zeev,\nwho has been testing coastal waters for 20 years.<\/p>\n
The country\u2019s desalination facilities mostly use a technology called\nreverse osmosis, in which water undergoes pre-treatment to remove larger\ncontaminants before being pumped through membranes that filter out salt,\nbacteria and other molecules, producing clean drinking water.<\/p>\n
Algae and the substances they produce can foul and damage these\nmembranes, said Michael Christopher Low, director of the Middle East\nCenter at the University of Utah. If there is too much suspended matter\nin the water, the treatment process will not be able to keep up.<\/p>\n
In Israel, the government water supply system has \u201cstepped in to\ncover the shortfall\u201d caused by the plant closures, said Gutman of\nMekorot. This includes pumping water from the Sea of Galilee, activating\ngroundwater wells, and using national water reserves.<\/p>\n
Some cities briefly faced short-term local restrictions, including\nbans on garden watering and swimming pool filling; however, the main\nrestrictions have had a greater impact on farmers who use\ndrinking-quality water for irrigation, as opposed to those who use\nrecycled water, Gutman explained.<\/p>\n
The timing of the event has exacerbated the problem. It occurred in\nsummer, \u201cwhen water demand in Israel is at its highest level,\u201d he said,\nadding that \u201cthe situation is very challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Algal blooms occur when there is the right combination of\nenvironmental factors in the water that allow algae to grow rapidly,\nsaid Tamar Guy-Haim, a marine ecologist at the Israel Oceanographic and\nLimnological Research Institute.<\/p>\n
These factors include nutrient availability, temperature, light,\ncurrents and water mixing. Mekorot stated that this algal bloom was part\nof \u201ca very unusual combination of factors,\u201d including a sea storm that\nincreased turbidity\u2014the amount of suspended matter in the water\u2014and\nraised sea water temperatures to 30 degrees Celsius or more. The scale\nof the disruption is extraordinary.<\/p>\n
Desalination facilities have indeed been forced to close previously\ndue to algae or jellyfish problems, \u201cbut the closure of multiple\nfacilities across most of our coastline is clearly abnormal,\u201d said\nBar-Zeev. \u201cIt is reasonable to expect that this is not a\nonce-in-a-lifetime event\u2026 you can assume that such events will become\nmore frequent due to climate change.\u201d<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rare-event-microalgae-cripple-nearly-all-of-israels-drinking-water-facilities-1788706306", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }