The European investment bank has signed a contract to provide a €120m loan to fund the construction of a new seawater desalination plant in Ashdod, Israel.
The contract was signed Bank Hapoalim which will lend the funds to Ashdod Desalination.
The company will employ reverse osmosis technology to design and construct the seawater desalination plant, which will have a production capacity of 100 million cubic meters a year.
The construction of the facility will provide improved water resources and sustainability in a water-scarce region.
The blending of desalinated water with fresh potable water from the national water carrier system will reduce hardness and concentrations of salts, nitrates and boron, thereby improving the quality of water delivered to consumers.
EIB's funding for the seawater desalination plant is part of the bank's wider programme to improve wastewater treatment facilities and drinking water supply in the regions.
The improvement of wastewater treatment plants will reduce water abstraction and thus the prevention of saline water intrusion into aquifers.
Ashdod Desalination is a fully owned unit of Mekorot Development and Enterprise, which is a subsidiary of Mekorot.
