Israeli, Palestinian Businessmen Cooperate on Water Issues

YERUSHALAYIM

In contrast to the lack of progress toward peace on the part of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, their business counterparts in the region have made considerable headway on the vital issue of water.

“Individuals and entrepreneurs find it easier to cooperate than governments,” observed Khaled Shukri Haramy, head of engineering for the Yehudah and Shomron branch of Black and Veatch, at the Water Technology and Environmental Control (WATEC) Exhibition and Conference in Tel Aviv this week, covered by The Jerusalem Post.

In order to build water infrastructure from scratch in the Palestinian Authority, representatives from many outlets — including Israeli manufacturers — have needed to “work together,” but through private, not government, channels, Hamary explained.

Hamary, a contractor working on the upgrading of USAID, funded efforts to supply potable water to Palestinian areas still lacking the resource. Many of the suppliers have been Israeli manufacturers.

In the village of Auja, Avraham Israeli, president of the Israel Water Association, is involved in a project to separate gray from black wastewater.

“The gray water is recycled and going back into greenhouse irrigation,” Israeli told the Post.

Mapal Green Energy is contributing its innovative technology to a more comprehensive wastewater treatment program. Its aeration system does not require the construction of an expensive treatment facility or the use of energy-intensive systems, according to the firm.

Mapal hopes that its method will reduce energy consumption of a municipal wastewater treatment facility there by some 70 percent, along with an 80-percent reduction in operational costs.

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