As water scarcity, climate pressures and population growth continue to challenge utilities worldwide, water reuse and desalination are becoming increasingly important components of long-term water security strategies.
Hagit Oron, Planning Manager at IDE Technologies.
H2O Global News spoke with Hagit Oron, Planning Manager at IDE Technologies, about the barriers to municipal water reuse, the role of the circular water economy and how desalination and reuse projects can reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.
What are the biggest barriers to municipal water reuse adoption?
Hagit Oron:
“The main barriers to municipal water reuse are rarely technological. Proven treatment trains can reliably produce high-quality water; however, adoption is often slowed by public perception, fragmented regulatory frameworks, financing challenges, and unclear cost-recovery models. Successful projects require more than compliance: they must be designed around risk management, transparent monitoring, and clear accountability between utilities, regulators, operators, and end users. Early stakeholder engagement and open communication on water quality safeguards are essential to build confidence. When these barriers are addressed, reuse becomes a trusted, drought-resilient supply source and a cost-effective complement to desalination in water-stressed regions.”
What does a “circular water economy” mean for utilities and industry?
Hagit Oron:
“A circular water economy reframes water as a recoverable asset rather than a single-use resource. For utilities, this means integrating desalination, potable and non-potable reuse, aquifer recharge, and, where feasible, resource recovery from brine, sludge, or concentrate streams into long-term water planning. For industry, it means matching water quality to purpose, recycling process streams, reducing freshwater withdrawal, and minimizing discharge. The greatest value comes from system-level design that combines advanced treatment, energy efficiency, digital operation, and responsible concentrate management. This approach strengthens water security, reduces environmental impact, and creates economic value from streams previously treated as waste.”
How can desalination and reuse projects reduce energy and carbon intensity?
Hagit Oron:
“Energy remains one of the main cost and carbon drivers in desalination and advanced reuse. Significant reductions can be achieved through efficient process design, advanced membranes, optimized pumping, high-efficiency energy recovery, smart pre-treatment, and real-time digital monitoring. Further gains come from integrated planning: selecting the right water source, matching treatment quality to actual use, recovering water where practical, and coupling projects with renewable or lower-carbon power. IDE’s experience in large-scale desalination and reuse demonstrates that sustainability is not achieved through a single technology, but through disciplined design, reliable operation, and continuous optimization throughout the asset life.”
About Hagit Oron
Hagit Oron is Planning Manager at IDE Technologies and brings more than two decades of experience in desalination, water treatment, wastewater treatment and environmental engineering.
Prior to joining IDE, she held senior engineering and project management positions with DHV MED, Veolia Water Israel, B.P.T, Tahal and GES, leading process and design teams across municipal, industrial, water, wastewater and desalination projects.
Her expertise includes project planning, process engineering, detailed design, project execution, customer requirements, capital equipment specifications and coordination of multidisciplinary engineering teams and subcontractors.
