Desalination firms among Israel delegation to southern California

Two desalination companies were among a delegation of leading Israeli water technology suppliers that shared their innovative water technologies with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) and its member public agencies in Los Angeles on 24 March 2011.

The focus of the event was to identify solutions relevant to the water challenges facing the Greater Los Angeles area, the state of California and the rest of the world.

Desalination and water treatment technology suppliers IDE Technologies and Nirosoft Industries were among nine companies, including Amiad Filtration Systems, whose visit followed a Declaration of Intent for Cooperation on Environmental Technology signed between Israel and California in November 2009.

Also taking part were Oded Distel, director of NEWTech at the Israeli Ministry of Industry and Trade; Metropolitan board vice chairman John W Murray Jr; Sigal Admony-Ravid, head of Israel Economic Mission to the West Coast; MWD director Aaron A Grunfeld, representing the city of Los Angeles; MWD general manager Jeffrey Kightlinger; and representatives from several MWD member agencies.

The event featured a morning plenary session followed by “match-making” opportunities between the nine participating Israeli companies and Metropolitan member agencies, facilitated by Metropolitan’s business outreach staff. These match-making sessions introduced Israeli technology experts to the region’s water officials, based on fields of interest and potential solutions to the water challenges the region faces.