PLANTPROFILE By Caitlin Cunningham

NAME: Hadera RO Desalination Plant

LOCATION: Hadera, Israel Mega-Sized PLANT SIZE: 127 million cu meters per year Innovation in Israel INFRASTRUCTURE: Open intake; seawater pumping station; dual-media WWD visits the world’s largest seawater filters; high-pressure pumps and energy-recovery system; RO membranes; product tank; and delivery point RO desalination plant

srael is in the midst of a water crisis. The past Water from the neighboring Mediterranean Sea six years have marked one of the Middle Eastern enters the Hadera facility through an open intake. Ination’s most severe drought periods, while It travels to a pumping station, from which it is sent population and commercial growth continue to through dual-media cartridge (micronic) filters. Once drive increased water demands. Today the country the water has undergone pretreatment, high-pressure is using almost double the amount of water it has pumps bring it to RO membranes for additional fil- available: about 2 billion cu meters per year con- tration. A re-hardening treatment follows, in which sumed vs. approximately 1.3 billion cu meters per the membranes’ permeate flows to a dedicated post- year of natural replenishment. To meet its pressing treatment in which calcium (hardness) is added to the water supply needs, Israel has turned not only to product water. Finished water is conveyed either to an The Hadera plant was configured to maximize water water reuse but also desalination. onsite product tank for temporary storage or directly treatment performance and minimize associated costs. “In 2000, the Israeli government agency to the public supply delivery point. Water Desalination Administration launched the Backwash water from the dual media and re- Desalination Master Plan, comprising large-scale hardening filtration, as well as brine water from the seawater plants along the Mediterranean and envis- RO process, is treated separately and delivered back aging a total volume of approximately 650 million to the sea. cu meters per year by the year 2020,” said Fredi Lokiec, executive vice president of special projects Dollars & Sense for IDE Technologies Ltd. IDE Technologies and a consortium of interna- Three desalination facilities—the Ashkelon (2005 tional financial institutions funded the $425-million startup), Palmachim (2007) and Hadera (2009) (USD) Hadera RO Desalination Plant build-operate- plants—currently operate in Israel, and two more transfer undertaking. Never before had foreign banks facilities—the Ashdod (expected 2012 startup) and financed such a large-scale project in Israel, and WWD Managing Editor and Plant Profile author Caitlin Sorek (2013) plants—are underway. The exist- Euromoney Project Finance recognized this accom- Cunningham on the facility rooftop, which overlooks ing operations supply about 40% of Israeli domes- plishment with a 2007 Deal of the Year award. the Mediterranean Sea. tic water consumption. By 2013, with five plants in The Hadera facility is a standout in terms of its operation, the government intends to meet 70% of treatment costs as well. The operation is producing the domestic need with desalinated water. high-quality potable water—personally taste tested by “The Desalination Master Plan in Israel is being the author—from Mediterranean seawater for approxi- implemented as planned, and in this regard, exclud- mately 60 cents (USD) per cubic meter, among the ing Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, Israel is— lowest desalination costs worldwide. Care is taken to together with Australia, Singapore and Spain— maximize production during off-peak hours in order to among the countries that successfully implement avoid the highest electricity fees, and the plant employs seawater desalination at a large scale as a reliable and an energy-recovery system with its high-pressure available source of water supply,” Lokiec said. pumps: key factors in controlling operational expendi- ture costs and keeping treatment costs affordable. Facility Walk-Through In 2032, marking 25 years after the notice to Hadera treats incoming seawater at a cost of about The Hadera seawater reverse osmosis (RO) desalina- proceed was issued, ownership of the Hadera RO 60 cents (USD) per cubic meter. tion plant is the largest operation of its kind globally. Desalination Plant will be transferred to the The plant originally was designed to produce 100 mil- Israeli government. WWD lion cu meters of water per year. In 2009, however, the project team signed an addendum to increase capac- Editor’s note: For more notes and photos ity to a state-mandated 127 million cu meters per year. from the author’s Water and Energy Environmental The expansion work was completed in 2010. USA Press Tour in Israel, visit the Blogs section on The 1,300-meter-long, 50- to 150-meter-wide www.wwdmag.com or Water & Wastes Digest’s social facility, divided into equally sized eastern and west- media pages (LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter). ern buildings, is located on the site of the Orot Caitlin Cunningham is managing editor of Water Rabin Power Station in the city of Hadera, Israel, & Wastes Digest. Cunningham can be reached at north of Tel Aviv. The plant’s unusually narrow [email protected] or 847.391.1025. layout was designed to accommodate limited land Fredi Lokiec of IDE Technologies leads a tour through availability, preserve valuable coastal space and For more information, write in 1103 on this issue’s one of the plant’s membrane halls. streamline the permitting process. Reader Service Card.

16 November 2011 • Water & Wastes Digest