(AP/Business Week) Michael Barajas - Israel is taking the lead in water technology, the latest export-oriented industry to help it weather the effects of the global meltdown. A growing number of Israeli firms are offering cutting-edge expertise in areas such as desalination technology, sewage-eating bacteria and wastewater treatment. "Israel is definitely one of the leaders, if not the leader, when it comes to water....I think of Israel as the Silicon Valley of water," said Shawn Lesser, president of Sustainable World Capital, an Atlanta investment group. Israel's fastest growing technology company this year was Aqwise, a water treatment company that uses small, bacteria-dispensing plastic cubes to break down sewage, increasing treatment efficiency and capacity, with sales increasing by 50% this year. Israel's interest in water technology goes back decades, an emphasis that started out of necessity in a country that is two-thirds desert. Shaul Arlosoroff, a leading Israeli water expert, said yearly consumption hovers around 200 cubic meters per capita, about one-sixth the amount of water consumed by the average Californian. Thanks to advances in wastewater treatment, most of the country's agriculture is now cultivated with recycled water, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
2009-12-18 08:38:29Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive