The Desalination Solution
Increased use of desalinated water by Israel and its neighbors will eventually translate into less water diverted from the Dead Sea. Desalination has been a goal since Israel’s early years. In 1948, soon-to-be Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion uttered what is now seen as a prophetic statement. “The purification of seawater by an inexpensive process is not only vital for Israel—it is a necessity for the world…if Israel succeeds in desalting the water of the sea, it will bring great benefits to the entire human race.” Only 12 years later, Sidney Loeb—a UCLA scientist who later immigrated to Israel—invented the first filter capable of efficiently separating freshwater from saltwater. In a process called reverse osmosis, salt water was pushed through a semi-permeable membrane, speeding up the separation process and requiring considerably less fuel than early...