The World Of Desalination, Opened

Avshalom Felber, president and CEO of IDE Technologies, talks to Water Online Radio about the advancement of desalination technologies worldwide, the applications for both municipal and industrial markets, and how to overcome the obstacles to widespread adoption.

The following is an excerpt from a Q&A with Water Online Radio. Click on the Radio Player above to hear the full interview.

Water Online Radio: Water scarcity is a huge issue in Israel, where IDE is based, but it's obviously becoming more of a global issue. Is Israel setting an example for the rest of the world to follow?

Avshalom: I wish I could say a straight yes, but it’s more complicated than that. In the almost 50 years that IDE has been in business, we’ve spent almost 40 of those years working outside of Israel because Israel did not have desalination plants. Although Israel does have issues with water scarcity, the desalination solution was delayed for many years in favor of controlling the demand side.

The last decade has shown a huge growth in Israel’s desalination market because it's impossible to rely on rain alone anymore. In this decade, we have definitely been a world leader in applying desalination plants; Israel has built the largest distillation plants worldwide, although it came as a newcomer in this industry.

Water Online Radio: The major objection regarding desalination has been energy use. What advances have been made to decrease energy requirements?

Avshalom: We can look at this from two aspects...

To hear more, including Mr. Felber’s thoughts on the American market and the future of desalination, click on the Radio Player at the top of the page.