IDE Water Technologies, a water treatment solutions company, has launched a project with Emek Hama’aynot Water Corporation, which includes the design, build and operation (DBO) of the Afikey Maim Facility in Israel. IDE will operate the facility for several years with an optional extension, providing approximately 280 m3/h (2,000,000 m3 per year) of high-quality water for agriculture and industrial use in Israel’s Gilboa area, in addition to about 70 m3/h of brine to be used for fish farming ponds.
The Afikey Maim Facility will be the first of its kind brackish/surface water reclamation plant in Israel to reuse the southern Jordan River’s polluted water, implementing IDE’s technologies. In recent years, the southern Jordan River has become a channel fed mainly with brackish water from springs around the Sea of Galilee and wastewater from various sources – hindering its use for agriculture. IDE’s advanced process includes a vast pre-treatment process, in order to overcome major fluctuations in algae and organic matter concentration in the feed water, implementing coagulation and sedimentation, sand filtration, micronic filtration, ultrafiltration and desalination. The desalination process operates at an 80% recovery rate. This ensures continuous operation and empowers the facility to increase the fresh water supply while contributing to Israel’s water economy and regional development.
Afikey Maim’s CEO, Ran Ben-Nun said: “The Jordan River has tremendous importance and is one of the most recognizable rivers in the world. However, for many years, the river has suffered from pollution, creating high salinity, and the wastewater could not be used for irrigation. Thanks to the determination of IDE and the team involved in the project, our agriculture water supply will now benefit from additional high-quality desalinated water fed into the system.”
IDE Water Technologies’ Operations & Maintenance Director, Natanel Louzon said: “The Afikey Maim Facility uses the most advanced IDE technology, providing the highest quality water where it is needed most, supporting industry and agriculture. IDE is excited to champion this project and has proven that the facility meets all requirements in terms of product quality and energy consumption.”
Additionally, the water produced from this facility will aid the Gilboa pumped storage project, compensating for evaporation losses from the reservoirs with the use of two hydroelectric turbines.
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