During the Jerusalem Post Annual New York Conference, Mekorot CEO Amit Lang said that water scarcity is no longer a concern in Israel, attributing this to 10 years of significant investment in desalination and advanced infrastructure.
“In the last decade, the shift to desalination has actually abolished the fear of scarcity,” Lang told Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief Zvika Klein. “There will be no more water scarcity in Israel.”
Lang detailed how Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, has emerged as a world leader in water efficiency and technology. “Compared to any benchmark of utility water suppliers in the world, Mekorot’s is superior by far,” he said. “In the OECD, average water loss is 15%, in the US, it can go up to 30% or 40%. At Mekorot, it’s less than 4%.”
He highlighted that this achievement was the result of substantial strategic investments. “We invest half a billion dollars in infrastructure and technology,” he stated, indicating that Mekorot is focused on strategic investment rather than financial ones. “We currently have investments in about 10 start-ups, all of which are synergetic to our operations.”
Those start-ups address various challenges, from cybersecurity to on-site water treatment. One innovation allows chlorine to be generated on-site using salt and electrolysis, eliminating the need to transport hazardous chemicals. “It’s amazing,” said Lang. “You don’t need any outside materials, just salt.”
Mekorot’s CEO also discussed the company’s strength in facing challenges, such as the ongoing war. “A lot of our employees were recruited [into the IDF] or evacuated from their homes, but still, their commitment and the resilience of the system meant that there were no water outages during the crisis.”
Internationally, Mekorot’s reputation has led to global demand for its expertise. “We’re currently working in 10 provinces in Argentina, in Paraguay, Peru, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan,” Lang said. “Even the Emirates recently contacted us regarding aquifers.”
He pointed out that what sets Israel apart from other countries is its focus on long-term planning. “Most places still manage water in an old-fashioned way; Mekorot consistently plans decades into the future.”
This article was written as part of media coverage of the Jerusalem Post’s New York Conference