Behind Israel’s water success.

What every water professional should learn from Israel’s Water Strategy: a model for the future. Why Israel leads the World in water innovation. What’s next for the Nation?

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This is one of my favourite episodes. It’s like a 1 hour MBA express inside of The Water MBA.

It connect many dots from our previous more than 60 episodes.

Ravid Levy, Senior Director at WaterEdgeIL - Israel's water innovation community - exposes a fascinating insight into the history of Israel's water management, how specific necessities led to the implementation of a national water strategy and, in a way, to achieving “independence” in terms of water management.

He’s truly an incredible person and professional: a very hard worker, always striving to improve.

He’s highly engaging both in person and on LinkedIn.

He never stays at the surface level, every comment I receive from him feels like a light switching on in my mind, always makes me think.

Definitely he has The Water MBA DNA.

“The most important is to have the safety of having water at all”

Keep the headline in mind: when you're unsure about the way forward or what comes next, remember that we all seek the security of having access to water under all circumstances (including in the face of climate) while also preserving our natural resources as sustainably as possible, whether that means preventing contamination, avoiding overexploitation, or protecting ecosystems.

In short, here are the pros and cons of Israel as a country in terms of water management:

Cons:

• Geopolitical “Island”: Israel operates in a unique position, it cannot rely on transboundary water agreements or shared river basins (unlike, for example, Portugal and Spain). This isolation necessitates self-sufficiency in water management.

• Climate & Natural Resources: Rainfall is scarce, and the natural replenishment of freshwater resources, accumulated over thousands of years, cannot keep up with current consumption demands.

• Demographic Growth: From 3 million residents 60 years ago to 9 million today, with projections suggesting a rise to 10–15 million in the coming years. This growth adds further pressure on water, food, and energy systems, core pillars of national well-being.

Pros

• Necessity-Driven Innovation: The pressing need for survival and development has fostered technological and strategic innovation in water management.

• Agriculture as a Driver: A strong agricultural sector has motivated the country to invest heavily in efficient irrigation systems and water reuse.

• National Common Interest & Political Will: Water is treated as a national priority, with long-standing bipartisan support ensuring continuity and focus.

• Long-Term Mindset: Israel adopts a forward-thinking approach, integrating planning, investment, and education into its water strategy.

Domestic water assured through ground water but also important to rely from the sea, through desalination plants.

The cost of desalinated water in Israel is approximately $0.55 per cubic meter, that’s just $0.55 for 1,000 liters.

However, this isn’t the final cost borne by end users.

Once you factor in distribution to households, wastewater collection, and treatment, the final cost rises to around $2–3 per cubic meter. This is similar to what we pay in Spain for the full water cycle coming from reservoirs or groundwater.

Still, considering the level of technology, infrastructure, and reliability involved, this is remarkably affordable, “ridiculously cheap!” (to borrow a phrase, Elon Musk-style).

Israel's relatively small size helps reduce the cost of water distribution, making it easier to manage infrastructure and logistics efficiently.

With a growing population that needs food, agriculture remains the main water consumer. This raises a central question: how to get the highest value from each drop of water?
The solution: a national water reuse grid, designed specifically to redirect treated wastewater to agricultural use, maximizing resource efficiency.

A key component of Israel’s success is its advanced wastewater treatment system, designed to produce high-quality reused or reclaimed water, as mentioned above.

These treatment plants feature multiple stages, each tailored to achieve specific water quality standards, depending on the type of crops being irrigated.

This targeted approach ensures safety, efficiency, and environmental compliance, delivering the right quality of water for the right agricultural use.

Israel's energy mix relies heavily on natural gas and increasingly on solar power. Due to limited rainfall and minimal surface water storage, hydropower plays only a minor role in the country’s energy system.

Important fact (common sense?):

“What happens in Water, stays in Water”

In Israel, virtually all revenues generated from water services are reinvested directly back into water infrastructure.

This reinvestment model supports the continuous upgrading of pipelines, treatment plants, and technological systems, ensuring the sustainability and resilience of the entire water network.

By contrast, in many countries and municipalities, water is treated as just another public service, with revenues often diverted to fund unrelated sectors.

This practice can undermine the sustainability of water management, leading to delayed maintenance, aging infrastructure, and underfunded upgrades.

Behind the scenes

Let me give you a hint as to why this episode with Ravid is truly special.

A few days after each recording, I usually sit down to personally edit the episode. I open the software, review the content, and start cutting small segments, the kind of moments where I say, “Wow, this is something important to share.”

In a typical 60-minute episode, I might extract 2 to 3 solid minutes of highlight-worthy material.

From there, I usually trim it down to about 1 to 1.5 minutes, the sweet spot for our short attention (nothing personal) spans on platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, or YouTube. (Thankfully, this written publication respects your time and focus, no noisy feed, no distractions.)

But when I edited Ravid’s episode… I ended up with over 6 minutes of standout content.

I actually had to split the editing into three separate sessions just to clear my head. I couldn’t bring myself to cut anything, every part felt essential.

That alone should tell you something.

Drip Irrigation

I won’t go too deep into what drip irrigation is, many of you are already familiar with it.

But here’s a brief spoiler: in next season, we’ll be joined by Pablo Ruiz from AZUD, one of the most internationally recognized companies in agricultural water management.

I recently read an article about how they’re using AI to improve the efficiency of “wet corridors”, you can see a related image below.

The article in Spanish, but LinkedIn might offer an automatic English translation. Give it a try, it’s worth the read.

We often overlook just how critical water use in agriculture is. If it represents the 70% of the water use worldwide, why is it not on the table more often? We can achieve a lot just working on this specific field worldwide.

We’re making sure next season includes focused conversations on some of the most pressing topics, such as:

1. Inefficient irrigation methods still used around the world.

2. Water quality and its role in safe food production.

3. Contamination of ecosystems due to poor irrigation practices.

4. The digitalization of the agricultural sector.

5. The rise of emerging contaminants in food chains.

It’s important to remember that wastewater treatment plants don’t just produce reused water, they also generate sludge.

And this sludge often retains microcontaminants like microplastics.

The concerning part? This sludge is sometimes used in agriculture, which means it can re-enter the food chain via the very feedstocks that nourish our population.

Water Reuse

You’ll notice there's growing alignment between political agendas and major industry interests when it comes to implementing water reuse strategies nowadays.

Many countries are now approaching challenges that others, like Israel, have already faced and overcome.

So, if you want a glimpse into the future of your own city, look closely at Israel’s present.

One striking example is the Purple Grid, a national network that distributes treated wastewater (reclaimed water) specifically for agricultural use.

The question is not if your city will move in this direction, but when.

One of the most remarkable facilities is the Shafdan Wastewater Treatment Plant.

As the largest plant of its kind in the Middle East, Shafdan is operated by Mekorot, Israel’s National Water Company.

Every day, it treats approximately 500,000 cubic meters of wastewater, effectively removing pathogens and impurities.

The recycled water is then supplied to farmers for crop irrigation, closing the loop in sustainable water management.

I recently asked my colleague Manuel Gonzalez why purple is the color chosen to represent reused water. Here’s his reply:

There are also standards for plastic pipes, such as the UNE-EN 12201 standard, which states that pipes for drinking water must be black with a blue stripe, and for reclaimed water, it is recommended that they be black with a purple stripe. Along the same lines, in Australia, the use of the color purple to identify reclaimed water pipes is regulated by the AS 1345-1995 standard, which specifically assigns this color to prevent cross-connections with drinking water. This is further reinforced by the color specifications of the AS 2700-2011 standard and applied in design standards such as AS/NZS 3500.

As you may understand, Water Reuse is going to have an important share of the content to be prepared along next season 2025/2026.

Please note that terminology like treated wastewater, recovered water, recycled water, and purified water is used differently worldwide, they are almost but not the same, we will break down the differences soon for clearer understanding.

Sorek Desalination Plant

Israel currently operates two desalination facilities named Sorek:

• Sorek 1 (the original plant), a large seawater reverse osmosis (RO) facility inaugurated in August 2013, with a capacity of about 150 million cubic meters per year.

• Sorek 2 (also called Sorek B), a second, similar-scale plant commissioned in 2024, with a capacity of around 200 million cubic meters per year.

I’m sure many of you will do a double-take when you see this picture.

Below is an image of the RO Pressure Vessels housing the RO membranes inside Sorek 1.

How does it feel?

Yes, the PV’s are installed vertically and are much bigger than conventional ones, 16” instead of 8”.

Here you can read a concise article about it. For the first time globally, the plant features 16-inch seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membranes arranged vertically. The article explores claims that this “going vertical” design can reduce the plant’s footprint and lower CAPEX costs.

Sorek “B” Desalination Plant

In our episode #9, we’ve already covered the Case Study of the Intake & Outfall of the Sorek “B” Desalination Plant—it’s about 30 minutes into the episode.

It’s definitely worth a look to understand why microtunneling was chosen for this critical part of the plant’s infrastructure.

By the way, this plant holds the world record for microtunneling execution performance, as shown in the picture below!

The blessed dilemma

About 95% of our readers live in countries where we probably won’t come close to Israel’s current level of water management during our careers.

Europe faces major challenges ahead, both technical and financial, in implementing the new wastewater directives and addressing emerging contaminants in drinking water.

Meanwhile, Latin America and the Caribbean are still working towards establishing proper wastewater treatment plants and sustainable water cycle services.

That said, I’m happy to know I’m part of an industry where there are many opportunities to add real value throughout the rest of my career.

It feels good to know that Israel has successfully tackled many of the water challenges that so many of us are still striving to overcome in our own countries.

So, what’s next for Israel? If the acute need for water security is, in a way, already addressed, how can the country maintain its leadership, stay motivated, and continue attracting talent and investment to keep innovating and achieving great things?

As Ravid said, this is Israel’s current dilemma. But fortunately, water is a continuous flow of surprises, discoveries, and innovations.

Take emerging contaminants as an example, like PFAS.

Here’s a curious fact or reflection, because I’m not fully sure about it, since Israel relies heavily on desalination as its main source of drinking water, PFAS contamination is less of an issue compared to countries that depend on freshwater sources contaminated by industrial and wastewater discharges.

There’s also plenty of discussion around water minerals, crop-specific quality requirements, AI implementation, and more.

Israel is home to incredible water tech companies that serve as valuable hubs for international cooperation and innovation.

Globally, most countries will never reach Israel’s “blessed dilemma” of asking, “Now what?” So it’s important to look at some key examples to learn from:

• Israel: Leading in agricultural water management, desalination, wastewater reuse, and water tech innovation.

• Singapore: Excelling in industrial and urban water management through stormwater collection, desalination, and wastewater reuse.

• Spain: Managing urban water through the full cycle—catchment, treatment, distribution, sewage, and wastewater treatment—with challenges ahead in upgrading wastewater effluents to meet new European directives, primarily due to financial constraints. Emerging contaminants remain a blind spot; just because they starting now to be tested doesn’t mean they aren’t present in our water and bodies.

• Saudi Arabia and UAE: Hosts of the world’s largest and most advanced desalination plants, with vast experience in operation and maintenance.

• Others: Countries like Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, and even China have unique water management approaches and innovations we will explore in the coming months.

What’s next?

This is our last episode in English for this season. The next one will be in Spanish.

I’ll also share a full list of episodes released so far, highlighting the most watched and engaging ones based on feedback from our community.

July and August will be our preparation period for the upcoming season, which starts in September/October 2025.

During these two months, you’ll receive special articles covering some of our top episodes from 2024 that didn’t originally have dedicated write-ups.