Itongadol.- It might not have been the sexiest business conference in a country that refers to itself as “start-up nation,” but there’s a lot of money in water.
Israel wants to be seen in the water world the same admiring way it is viewed in the realm of high-tech. The country’s exports of water products have tripled in the past five years and now total $2 billion, according to Israel’s economic ministry. Its biggest customer is the United States, but new markets are opening in countries with an emerging middle class, such as Mexico, Turkey, China and India.
Because of Israel’s history of scarcity, isolation and resourcefulness, it has the jump in water management and conservation. The first prime minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, issued the call to “make the desert bloom.” Since then, Israeli leaders have periodically dangled the transfer of water technology as a possible incentive for peace with the Palestinians and Arab states.
Two Republican governors from arid states, Rick Perry of Texas and Brian Sandoval of Nevada, were on hand with large delegations this week to peruse the wares at the Watec Israel 2013 exhibition.
Perry hailed Israel for its reuse of wastewater — Israel recycles more than 80 percent of its effluents, compared with about 1 percent in the United States, the governor said.
Asked about potential deals between Israel and Texas for water technology, Perry said in an interview, “Let’s do it.”
The Texas governor was repeatedly approached by representatives of the Israeli water business who introduced themselves, delivered business cards and made their sales pitches.
The reason for their interest did not escape Perry. “Texas goes from drought to drought, and what we need to survive is to conserve and use wisely what water we have,” Perry said. Texas residents will vote in November on a $2 billion initiative to rebuild the state’s water infrastructure.
The hallways of the Tel Aviv convention center were packed with engineers from China, Spain, France and Australia. Buyers and sellers huddled around water coolers signing memorandums of understanding.
Israel is a world leader in desalination of seawater. By next year, more than a third of Israel’s tap water will come from the Mediterranean Sea and a few briny wells. Israel’s total water consumption remains nearly at 1964 levels — even though its population has quadrupled to 8 million people, according to the economic ministry.