218
River restoration. Given estimates of the latter, the cost of Dead Sea reclamation
associated with the northern Mediterranean route is negligible. However, performing desalination at a scale needed to stabilise the Dead Sea (above 700 × 10
6 m
3 /
year) may not be feasible, implying that this project may not suffi ce on its own and
should come in combination with other options.
14.4 Dead Sea Reclamation Based on Recycled Water
This alternative is based on the evolution of the following processes:
(i) The population of the region will continue to grow more or less along the projections of Fig. 14.2 .
(ii) The supply of potable water (from natural sources, desalination or importation) will accordingly grow to provide at least the quantity deemed necessary
for basic human needs – about 100 m
3 /year per person (Gleick 1996 ).
(iii) Environmental standards require appropriate treatment of domestic sewage,
disregarding its outlet and whether or not it will be reused. Accordingly, each
cubic metre (m
3
) allocated to households and industrial use will be collected,
treated and become available for reuse (mainly in irrigation and environmental
restoration). Under current recycling technology, each m
3 allocated for domestic use provides between 0.6 m
3 and 0.65 m
3 of treated (recycled) water (Cohen
et al. 2008 ).
(iv) Water will be priced according to its cost of supply (see Tsur 2009 ). Pricing
water in this way will affect farmers’ choices of crops (e.g. away from waterthirsty crops) and will induce them to switch irrigation water away from expensive natural (potable) sources into marginal (recycled, saline) water.
The population projections of (i) are reasonable because they are based on 60
years of actual data and account for the anticipated decline in the population growth
rate due to economic development. Processes (ii )–(i v) have been progressively
implemented in Israel: Firstly, fi ve large-scale desalination plants, with accumulated
capacity of 600 × 10
6 m
3
/year (more than 85 % of domestic water consumption in
Israel), have been built in the last decade, and plans to increase desalination capacity
in the future match the population growth projections (see Israel Water Authority
2012 ; Tsur 2014 ). Secondly, virtually all domestic water is collected, treated and
made available for reuse in irrigation and environmental restoration (Israel Water
Authority 2012 ). Thirdly, a series of water pricing reforms in the domestic and irrigation sectors have increased the effi ciency of water use by reducing leakage, changing the mix of irrigated crops and inducing farmers to switch from natural (potable)
water to recycled water (Tsur 2014 ; Kislev 2011 ). These measures have led, inter
alia, to a 10 % reduction in domestic water consumption (about 100 × 10
6 m
3
/year –
equivalent to a large-scale desalination plant) and induced farmers to switch natural
water quotas (which become more expensive) for recycled water (see Tsur 2014 ).
Israel currently produces more than 450 × 10
6 m
3
/year of recycled water and plans to
increase this quantity to 930 × 10
6 m
3
/year by 2050 (Israel Water Authority 2012 ).
A.I.H. Malkawi and Y. Tsur
River restoration. Given estimates of the latter, the cost of Dead Sea reclamation
associated with the northern Mediterranean route is negligible. However, performing desalination at a scale needed to stabilise the Dead Sea (above 700 × 10
6 m
3 /
year) may not be feasible, implying that this project may not suffi ce on its own and
should come in combination with other options.
14.4 Dead Sea Reclamation Based on Recycled Water
This alternative is based on the evolution of the following processes:
(i) The population of the region will continue to grow more or less along the projections of Fig. 14.2 .
(ii) The supply of potable water (from natural sources, desalination or importation) will accordingly grow to provide at least the quantity deemed necessary
for basic human needs – about 100 m
3 /year per person (Gleick 1996 ).
(iii) Environmental standards require appropriate treatment of domestic sewage,
disregarding its outlet and whether or not it will be reused. Accordingly, each
cubic metre (m
3
) allocated to households and industrial use will be collected,
treated and become available for reuse (mainly in irrigation and environmental
restoration). Under current recycling technology, each m
3 allocated for domestic use provides between 0.6 m
3 and 0.65 m
3 of treated (recycled) water (Cohen
et al. 2008 ).
(iv) Water will be priced according to its cost of supply (see Tsur 2009 ). Pricing
water in this way will affect farmers’ choices of crops (e.g. away from waterthirsty crops) and will induce them to switch irrigation water away from expensive natural (potable) sources into marginal (recycled, saline) water.
The population projections of (i) are reasonable because they are based on 60
years of actual data and account for the anticipated decline in the population growth
rate due to economic development. Processes (ii )–(i v) have been progressively
implemented in Israel: Firstly, fi ve large-scale desalination plants, with accumulated
capacity of 600 × 10
6 m
3
/year (more than 85 % of domestic water consumption in
Israel), have been built in the last decade, and plans to increase desalination capacity
in the future match the population growth projections (see Israel Water Authority
2012 ; Tsur 2014 ). Secondly, virtually all domestic water is collected, treated and
made available for reuse in irrigation and environmental restoration (Israel Water
Authority 2012 ). Thirdly, a series of water pricing reforms in the domestic and irrigation sectors have increased the effi ciency of water use by reducing leakage, changing the mix of irrigated crops and inducing farmers to switch from natural (potable)
water to recycled water (Tsur 2014 ; Kislev 2011 ). These measures have led, inter
alia, to a 10 % reduction in domestic water consumption (about 100 × 10
6 m
3
/year –
equivalent to a large-scale desalination plant) and induced farmers to switch natural
water quotas (which become more expensive) for recycled water (see Tsur 2014 ).
Israel currently produces more than 450 × 10
6 m
3
/year of recycled water and plans to
increase this quantity to 930 × 10
6 m
3
/year by 2050 (Israel Water Authority 2012 ).
A.I.H. Malkawi and Y. Tsur