On the eve of World Water Day, Lior Asaf, the Water Attache in the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi made an interesting and invisible fact visible. Israel, one of the nations with lowest rainfall in the world, optimizes its water resources and 90 per cent of wastewater in the country is recycled. The average annual rainfall being 550 mm, Israel is one of the few countries in the world that receive scanty rainfall.
According to Dr Lior Asaf, a qualified water scientist, Israel meets its water requirements for agriculture through micro irrigation, despite the fact that it was the country that developed drip irrigation. “In India States like Gujarat and Karnataka meet 40 per cent irrigation water through micro irrigation while States like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab meet only 5 per cent through the same technology,” said Dr Asaf who added that there was nothing that prevents these States from increasing the water yield through micro irrigation.
Dr Asaf also disclosed that desalination plants that convert seawater into drinking water is a viable alternative to resolve water shortage. “In Israel we meet 80 per cent of our consumption requirement through desalination plants. We have found that the desalination process preserves the natural water system as we pump the desalinated water into our rivers,” he said.
Dr Asaf also disclosed that the desalination plants as well as their discharges to the sea and environment are monitored on a round the clock basis. “We have not come across any environmental or ecological issues because of desalination plants,” he said.