SADC delegates attend water conference
Delegates from a number of municipalities across South Africa have picked up expertise on water management after returning from last week's Israel-Africa Water Conference in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The WATEC conference was attended by 10 000 visitors, including delegates from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), several dozen South Africans, and other countries.
Water professionals from the mining, engineering, financial and other sectors were also in attendance.
WATEC is Israel's largest water management exhibition and conference.
The Israeli ambassador to South Africa, Lior Keinan, said: “As expressed to President Jacob Zuma recently, Israel is happy to help share its extensive knowledge in water management solutions to the people of South Africa.”
Besides participating in the conference, the municipal delegation spent the rest of the week on a professional expedition visiting different sites.
This included a visit to the water company of Israel's capital, Jerusalem, where they learnt how the city manages its water systems and achieves outstanding high water efficiencies.
They visited a desalination plant in Hadera, one of Israel's five mega-plants and the biggest SWRO plant in the world.
They also visited Tel Aviv's regional wastewater works that treat wastewater from close to two million people back to drinking level. This water is then used for irrigation.
The head of the economic mission at Israel's embassy in South Africa, Itai Melchior, said this visit was another way Israeli expertise played a positive role in South Africa, which faces serious drought, climate change and water management challenges.
Israel is a world leader in water management technologies, having developed these capabilities to overcome a severe water shortage.
The positive water balance achieved allows Israel to share water with its neighbours in Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
Technologies Israel is famous for include desalination, wastewater reclamation, drip irrigation and a wide range of innovations that have led Israeli municipalities to be world leaders in minimising water losses.
NAMPA/ANA
The WATEC conference was attended by 10 000 visitors, including delegates from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), several dozen South Africans, and other countries.
Water professionals from the mining, engineering, financial and other sectors were also in attendance.
WATEC is Israel's largest water management exhibition and conference.
The Israeli ambassador to South Africa, Lior Keinan, said: “As expressed to President Jacob Zuma recently, Israel is happy to help share its extensive knowledge in water management solutions to the people of South Africa.”
Besides participating in the conference, the municipal delegation spent the rest of the week on a professional expedition visiting different sites.
This included a visit to the water company of Israel's capital, Jerusalem, where they learnt how the city manages its water systems and achieves outstanding high water efficiencies.
They visited a desalination plant in Hadera, one of Israel's five mega-plants and the biggest SWRO plant in the world.
They also visited Tel Aviv's regional wastewater works that treat wastewater from close to two million people back to drinking level. This water is then used for irrigation.
The head of the economic mission at Israel's embassy in South Africa, Itai Melchior, said this visit was another way Israeli expertise played a positive role in South Africa, which faces serious drought, climate change and water management challenges.
Israel is a world leader in water management technologies, having developed these capabilities to overcome a severe water shortage.
The positive water balance achieved allows Israel to share water with its neighbours in Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
Technologies Israel is famous for include desalination, wastewater reclamation, drip irrigation and a wide range of innovations that have led Israeli municipalities to be world leaders in minimising water losses.
NAMPA/ANA
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