Israel Desalination Society (R.A.

)
Water Research Institute Center for Water Science & Technology
Technion- Israel Institute of Technology Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

LARGE SEA-WATER DESALINATION PROJECTS

A TIMELY SOLUTION TO ISRAEL'S
PRESSING WATER NEEDS

Program and Presented Papers

December 7,
Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
ISRAEL DESALINATION SOCIETY (R.A)
 ISRAEL DESALINATION SOCIETY (R.A.)
Water Research Institute Center for Water Science & Technology
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

LARGE SEA-WATER DESALINATION PROJECTS

A TIMELY SOLUTION TO ISRAEL’S PRESSING WATER NEEDS

Program and papers

December 7, 1999

Butler Auditorium, Neaman Institute of the

Technion -Israel Institute of Technology

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 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
The background to the conference on LARGE SEA-WATER DESALINATION PROJECTS is the
Israel Government resolution 4895 of March 7, 1999 relating to sea-water desalination. The resolution
instructs the Minister of National Infrastructures, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of the
Interior to advance the planning of integration of sea-water desalination plants into the Israel Water
Supply system and to prepare bid specifications for establishing a sea-water desalination plant of 50
MCM a year, built, owned and operated by private investment. This resolution has accelerated interest
of world leading desalination developers in making preparations for concrete proposals.
The Israel Desalination Society (IDS), whose charter calls for “the development and promotion of
the appropriate use of desalination and desalination technologies for the water supply needs of the
State of Israel”, welcomed the Government decision, as evidenced by the subtitle of the conference: A
TIMELY SOLUTION TO ISRAEL’S PRESSING WATER NEEDS. The IDS Council felt that it was
its natural duty to assist serious desalination developers by offering them an appropriate forum for
gathering information, presenting their capabilities and experience, and airing their concept of a large
scale sea water desalination project they would be envisaging.
Hopefully, the contemplated first large scale desalination project of 50 MCM a year will be a
pioneering endeavor of a series of similar and larger desalination plants. These are essential for
solving the acute national and regional water shortage and water quality problems that are anticipated
in the early years of the next decade. The 50 MCM a year project will undoubtedly serve as an
essential learning tool for Israeli planners, on ways for organizing and carrying out large scale fresh
water supply from desalination sources.
With these considerations in mind, the conference program aimed at the following objectives:
to advance public awareness of the urgent need of desalination in Israel
to illustrate the availability of reliable and affordable desalination technologies
to emphasize oncoming desalination business opportunities in Israel, reflected in the March
1999 resolution of the Israeli Government
The conference organizers are grateful to the world leading desalination developers who have
readily agreed to participate and share their experience in the presence of their competitors. The
response of organizations and companies for financial support towards the IDS conference budget has
also been gratifying, as acknowledged elsewhere in this booklet.
Thanks are due to Mr. Meir Ben-Meir, Water Commissioner, for agreeing to present a tone-setting
opening lecture. We are also indebted to Mr. Ben-Meir for allowing Adan Technologies to present a
paper based on the proposed tender documents for the 50 MCM a year sea-water desalination project,
which Adan prepared under the guidance of the Water Commission.
We are looking forward both to the presentations and the discussions. It is our hope that the
technical and economic data disclosed from eminent desalination developers, who have impressive
records in construction and operation of large water projects, will facilitate and accelerate the
Government decision process towards soliciting bids for a 50 MCM a year desalination project. The
closing session of the conference, chaired by Professor Raphael Semiat, will aim to summarize the
conference and hopefully, to adopt a resolution addressed to the Government and the public at large.
The presentations and discussions at the conference will be taped so as to enable publication, in due
course, of a final Proceedings Book. The list of people who have helped organize this conference is
too long to enumerate. Special mention should, however, be made of the untiring work and efforts of
Iris Sutzkover, a research student at the Rabin Desalination Laboratory and of Miriam Amsalem,
secretary at Technion’s Chemical Engineering Department. Thanks are also due to the dedicated
efforts of Anat Shauli, researcher, and Marina Rumyantsev, research student, of the Rabin
Desalination Laboratory and of Norma Jacobs, Secretary at the Chemical Engineering Department.
David Hasson
Conference Chairman
WRI Rabin Desalination Laboratory

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 The conference was generously supported by the following
organizations; their financial contributions are
gratefully acknowledged:

BEN GURION UNIVERSITY - INSTITUTES FOR APPLIED RESEARCH

DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY – FILMTEC® MEMBRANES

HYDRANAUTICS

IDE TECHNOLOGIES

IONICS INCORPORATED

ISRAEL DISCOUNT BANK

JACOBSON AGENCIES

KEMIRA KEMWATER

MEKOROT - ISRAEL NATIONAL WATER CO.

TAHAL CONSULTING ENGINEERS

TAMBOUR ECOLOGY

TECHNION - ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

WATER RESEARCH INSTITUTE – TECHNION IIT

THE ISRAEL ELECTRIC CORPORATION

THE WATER COMMISSION - MINISTRY OF NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURES

VIVENDI WATER

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Conference organizing committee:

David Hasson (Chairman), WRI Rabin Desalination Laboratory

Amitzur Barak, Israel Water Commission
Nathan Berkman, Adan Technical & Economic Services
Miriam Brusilowski, Jacobson Agencies
Raphael Semiat, WRI Rabin Desalination Laboratory

Council Members of the ISRAEL DESALINATION SOCIETY:

Uri Arbel (Tahal Consulting Engineers)

Ram Aviram (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Amitzur Barak (Water Commission)
Nathan Berkman (Adan Technical Services)
Uri Fisher (Ormat)
Jack Gilron (Center for Water Science & Technology, B.G.U.)
Pinhas Glueckstern (Mekorot Desalting Division)
David Hasson (Rabin Desalination Lab. WRI, Technion, Council Coordinator)
Daniel Hoffman (Adan Technical Services)
Shmuel Kantor (IDS president, Senior Advisor)
Yehuda Kantor (Revivim Water & Environment)
Ora Kedem (Center for Water Science & Technology, B.G.U.)
Yaacov Mansdorf (Tambour Ecology)
Moti Perry (Nitron)
Menahem Priel (Mekorot Desalting Division)
Raphael Semiat (Rabin Desalination Lab. WRI, Technion)
Shimon Tal (Mekorot Water Co.)
Josef Weinberg (Israel Desalination Engineering)

Organizational work and editing of conference booklet:

David Hasson and Raphael Semiat with considerable support and assistance from the
Water Research Institute and the Chemical Engineering Department of the Technion.

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CONTENTS
Page
Conference Program VIII IX

PAPERS

DESALINATION - A LEVERAGE FOR COMPREHENSIVE LAND AND

WATER MANAGEMENT- OPENING LECTURE
Mr. Meir Ben-Meir (Water Commissioner) 1

CURRENT GUIDELINES AND TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL

PARAMETERS BY THE ISRAEL WATER COMMISSION FOR
EXECUTING THE FIRST LARGE-SCALE SEA-WATER DESALINATION
PROJECT IN ISRAEL
Daniel Hoffman (Director, Adan Technical & Economical Services Ltd.) 4

EXPERIENCE, CAPABILITIES AND PLANS FOR ERECTING LARGE

SEA-WATER DESALINATION PLANTS
Pinhas Glueckstern (Senior Desalination Consultant, Mekorot Water Co.) and
Menachem Priel (Manager, Desalination & Special Projects Division, Mekorot
Water Co.) 21

IONICS EXPERIENCE IN WATER DESALINATION OVER A PERIOD OF

FOUR DECADES
Arthur L. Goldstein (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ionics Incorporated) 35

TAMPA BAY DESALINATION PROJECT: AN EPOCH-MAKING IDEA

THAT WILL OPEN NEW MARKETS.
Edward J. Sondey (Senior Vice President. Poseidon Resources Corporation) 39

LARNACA - A BOOT PROJECT CASE STUDY

Gustavo Kronenberg (Vice-President Marketing, Israel Desalination Engineering) 48

SUEZ-LYONNAISE DES EAUX AT THE HEART OF LIFE

Jean Horgen (Suez-Lyonnaise Israel Resident Manager) 56

MEMBRANE AND THERMAL DESALINATION TECHNOLOGIES AND

VIVENDI WATER'S ROLE IN LARGE DESALINATION FOR ISRAEL
Marie Marguerite Bourbigot (Technical Development & Innovation Director,
Vivendi Water) and Tom Pankratz (Director of Corporate Projects, Vivendi Water) 59

DESALINATION SHIPS
Shlomo Rodav (Torrel Energy), Reinhard B. Klose (Salzgitter Gmbh) and S.
Jayakumar (Keppel Fels) 69

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PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS 80

ISRAEL DESALINATION FORUM and ISRAEL DESALINATION SOCIETY 83

Advertisements

DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY – FILMTEC® MEMBRANES (Jacobson Agencies) 84

HYDRANAUTICS 85

IDE TECHNOLOGIES 86

IONICS INCORPORATED 87

KEMIRA KEMWATER (Jacobson Agencies) 88

MEKOROT - ISRAEL NATIONAL WATER CO. 89

TAHAL CONSULTING ENGINEERS 90

TAMBOUR ECOLOGY 91

THE ISRAEL ELECTRIC CORPORATION 92

THE WATER COMMISSION - MINISTRY OF NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURES 93

VIVENDI WATERS 94

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 CONFERENCE PROGRAM

08:30- 9:30 Registration

09:30- 9:50 GREETINGS SESSION

Chair: David Hasson (WRI Rabin Desalination Laboratory)

Major General (Res.) Amos Lapidot, President of the Technion

Eng. Koussai Quteishat, Director of the Middle East Desalination Research Center
Professor Avishai Braverman, President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Professor Uri Shamir, Director of Technion’s Water Research Institute

OPENING LECTURE

09:50-10:25 Mr. Meir Ben-Meir (Water Commissioner), MINISTRY OF NATIONAL

INFRASTRUCTURES, Israel

Desalination - a Leverage for Comprehensive Land and Water Management

SESSION I

Chair: Shmuel Kantor (Senior Advisor)

10:25-11:00 Daniel Hoffman (Director); ADAN TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICES

LTD, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Current Guidelines and Technical and Commercial Parameters by the Israel

Water Commission for Executing the First Large-Scale Sea-Water Desalination
Project in Israel

11:00-11:35 Pinhas Glueckstern (Senior Desalination Consultant) and Menahem Priel (Manager,
Desalination & Special Projects Division)); MEKOROT-WATER Co., Tel-Aviv,
Israel

Experience, Capability and Plans for Erecting Large Sea-Water Desalination

Plants

11:35-12:00 Coffee Break

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 SESSION II

Chair: Nathan Berkman (Adan Technical & Economic Services Ltd.)

12:00-12:35 Arthur L. Goldstein (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; IONICS Incorporated,
Watertown MA, USA

IONICS Experience in Water Desalination over a Period of Four Decades

12:35-13:10 Edward J. Sondey (Senior Vice President); POSEIDON RESOURCES

CORPORATION, Stamford CT, USA

Tampa Bay Desalination Project: an Epoch-Making Idea That Will Open New
Markets

13:10-13:40 MEETING OF THE ISRAEL DESALINATION SOCIETY

13:40-14:40 Lunch

SESSION III

Chair: Amitzur Barak (Water Commission)

14:40-15:15 Gustavo Kronenberg (Vice-President Marketing); IDE Technologies Ltd. (ISRAEL

DESALINATION ENGINEERING), Rananna, Israel

Larnaca - a BOOT Project Case Study

15:15-15:50 Jean Horgen (Israel Resident Manager); LYONNAISE DES EAUX, Paris, France

Suez-Lyonnaise des Eaux at the Heart of Life

SESSION IV

Chair: Raphael Semiat (WRI Rabin Desalination Laboratory)

15:50-16:25 Marie-Marguerite Bourbigot (Technical Development & Innovation Director) & Tom
Pankratz (Director of Corporate Projects); VIVENDI WATER, Paris, France

Membrane and Thermal Desalination Technologies and Vivendi Water's Role in

Large-Scale Desalination for Israel

16:25-17:00 Shlomo Rodav (Torrel Energy-Israel), Reinhard B. Klose (Salzgitter Analgenbau

Gmbh-Germany) and Sreedharan Jayakumar (Keppel FELS-Singapore); RED-MED
MARINE DESALINATION CONSORTIUM

Desalination Ships

17:00-17:30 CLOSING SESSION

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 PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS

THE WATER COMMISSION

MINISTRY OF NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURES OF THE STATE OF
ISRAEL
The Water Commission is responsible for the overall management of Israel’s water resources
with the aim of ensuring a steady water supply to all Israel'
s residents over time for the
diverse consumption uses - domestic, industrial and agricultural. The Water Commission is
further responsible for setting the water economy policy, planning and development of the
water economy, preventing the pollution of water sources, regulation of streams and flood
prevention, utilization of overflow water, development of new water sources, utilization of
waste water, development of desalination plants and promotion of efficient water use.

ADAN TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICES

Adan is a consulting company serving Israeli Government and industry in the fields of water
and wastewater treatment, energy and the environment. For the past ten years it has been the
principal desalination consultant to the Israel Water Commissioner and its Planning,
Development, and Water Quality, Pollution Control and Wastewater Reuse Divisions. It has
recently drafted, on behalf of the Water Commissioner and under the guidance of a Steering
Committee, the Tender Documents for implementing the first large-scale sea-water
desalination project in Israel.

MEKOROT WATER COMPANY

Mekorot Water Co. is a public utility that has developed Israel’s national water supply
systems since 1937 and to-day supplies 66% of the country’s water needs. Israel’s water
resources cannot meet future needs, and hence the necessity to develop new technologies and
more efficient systems. Mekorot is a world leader in desalination, reclamation of sewage
water and cloud seeding. From the first BWRO test unit started back in 1972 through 27 years
of feasibility studies , pilot testing, design, projects management, supervision construction
technologies and commissioning, the Desalination Division is now designing the first 50
MCM/year Mediterranean desalination plant.

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 IONICS
In the past four decades Ionics has built over 3,000 desalination plants, an amount greater
than that built by any other company in the world. Ionics is also a project developer and
owner and operator of desalination plants, when such scope suits the needs of the customer.
Ionics currently has 2300 employees worldwide at 90 locations in 62 countries. It has a strong
on-going R&D activity. It manufactures several types of membranes used in desalination and
wastewater treatment and also has divisions which specialize in ultrapure water, consumer
water products, including bottled water, and water monitoring. Ionics is the largest
independent water purification equipment and systems company in the USA.

POSEIDON RESOURCES
Poseidon Resources is a US-based developer of water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
Teaming with industry leaders, Poseidon conceives, structures and invests in large-scale
projects in the US and abroad. Poseidon has developed the largest wastewater privatization in
the US, the largest desalination project in the US, and the largest project holdings in Mexico’s
water treatment sector.

ISRAEL DESALINATION ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES

IDE Technologies is a pioneer and leader in the delivery of sophisticated water solutions. IDE
develops, designs and installs and maintains plants for saline water desalination, effluent
concentration and purification of industrial streams and water treatment. Since its beginning
in 1965, IDE has installed over 300 plants in 36 countries.

SUEZ-LYONNAISE DES EAUX

Suez-Lyonnaise des Eaux, a world leader in private management of water utilities, is a major
utilities group. Its core activities are energy, water and wastewater management, with a
presence in over 120 countries and serving over 90 million people.

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 VIVENDI WATER
Generale des Eaux, established in 1853, is a world leader in water treatment and distribution
services for over 100 million people in more than 100 countries. With the acquisition of US
Filter earlier this year, Vivendi’s subsidiaries, including Generale des Eaux, now account for
8.9% of the worldwide desalination market. Generale des Eaux desalination providers
include: OTV - a leading private contractor for designing and building water and wastewater
treatment facilities and SIDEM - a world leader in sea-water desalination specializing in
thermal processes. US filter owns 4 important subsidiaries in the desalination market: USF
Metito, USF Enerserve, USF Bekox and USF Memcor.

MED-RED MARINE DESALINATION CONSORTIUM

Torrel Energy (Israel), together with Saltzgitter (Germany) and Keppel FELS (Singapore)
intend to design, erect and operate specially designed desalination and power ships at capacity
of about 50 MCM/year each for Israel, Jordan and Palestinians as well as for locations in the
world.

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 ISRAEL DESALINATION FORUM
and
ISRAEL DESALINATION SOCIETY

In the last few years, a group of about 20 water professionals who share the belief that large
scale desalination in Israel is overdue, created an informal “desalination forum”. Members of
this forum (page V) represent various facets of the water establishment in Israel: water supply
companies, desalination industries, consulting offices, equipment and systems suppliers,
government departments, research groups and academic institutions. The group met regularly
to discuss desalination issues and to promote public awareness on the need of desalination.

The main achievements of this group to date are as follows. A 2 day Conference was
organized in May 1998 on the topic “Desalination in Israel-present and future”. This meeting,
held with the active participation of the Israel Government Water Commissioner, attracted
180 specialists. The 160 pages of the Conference Proceedings, published by Technion’s
Water Research Institute (in Hebrew), cover practically all aspects relating to desalination in
Israel. The conference Proceedings were summarized by A. Shauly in the paper “Desalination
in Israel-Present and Future”, published in Desalination Vol. 120 (1998) pp. 281-284.

The forum then proceeded to found the Israel Desalination Society. The first activity of the
Society was to hold in January 1999 a 3 days workshop on “Fouling Mitigation in Membrane
Processes”. Papers were delivered by foremost experts from Industry and Academia, from all
parts of the world. This workshop, conducted in English, attracted about 170 participants, 40
of whom came from abroad. The workshop Proceedings were summarized by R.
Sheikholeslami in the paper "Fouling Mitigation in Membrane Processes", published in
Desalination Vol. 123 (1999) pp. 45-53.

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