Israel aids Pacific island with mobile desalinator

Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs is supplying a truck-mounted desalination facility to the Marshall islands in the Pacific ocean to help tackle the islands’ severe water shortage.

The desalination vehicle was made by Israeli water purification company, GAL Water Technologies. Hadera-based GAL will soon be sending a team of experts to the Marshall Islands to help train local staff to operate the new system.

The mobile water treatment system is designed for sustained emergency response and recovery in remote communities. The system can connect to any water source, including rivers, oceans, brackish water, and wells to produce drinking water that meets World Health Organization standards according to GAL.

The mobile desalination facility is joined by US$150,000 in other water-related support according to a statement by the ministry.

● At the end of last year energy-efficient, small-scale desalination specialist Spectra Watemarkers, provided a permanent solar and wind-powered desalination plant on the remote atoll of Kili in the Marshall Islands. The facility is now operational and is the region’s second facility. Contractor, Moana Marine LLC installed the two Spectra LB-2800 reverse osmosis (RO) desalination systems, which convert seawater into over 28 Ml/d of fresh, EPA-approved drinking water. Before the installation, Kili’s 1,200 residents suffered not only from drought but from polluted groundwater, which had to be boiled before drinking. The energy efficiency of the desalination system, makes it possible to power it by wind and solar power. Moreover, it overcomes the unreliability of fuel supplies due to seasonal rough seas.