ISRAEL: Israeli scientists and engineers present new water technology innovations which address issues of global warming and security

Record ID: 396510

  • Title: ISRAEL: Israeli scientists and engineers present new water technology innovations which address issues of global warming and security
  • Date: 12th November 2007
  • Summary: VISITORS OBSERVING DEVICE CLOSE OF FOUNTAIN MORE OF EXHIBITION CLOSE OF DISPLAYED WATER DEVICE POSTER OF WISE-EYE ZE'EV SMILANSKY OF EMZA VISUAL SENSE DEMONSTRATING DEVICE CAPABILITIES (SOUNDBITE) (English) ZE'EV SMILANSKY OF EMZA VISUAL SENSE SAYING: "This unit is an entire, a complete surveillance system, with a camera, cables, communications and the brain inside, all th
  • Embargoed: 27th November 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Environment / Natural World
  • Reuters ID: LVA2G3KWY9CQTUSN1K1ZSG1ECKGV
  • Story Text: In the Middle East, water supplies might be scarce but water-based inventions are booming. Israeli innovators recently unveiled their latest designs in water technology, like palm-sized filters that turn toxic waste into drinking water, humidity extractors that provide water in the desert, and portable devices that can identify chemical toxins in just minutes.
    Exhibitors at Israel's recent WATEC conference, a government subsidized presentation intended to market Israeli products to foreign investors showed dozens of new efficient breakthroughs in developing one of the most lacking elements in this parched part of the world.
    Among them, the Solar Dripper, a pipe-like contraption that literally sucks water out of hot air. The invention works on the theory that almost all air contains some particles of water, according to the company's CEO, Eitan Bar.
    "You can have a pipe, put it in the desert, put it where ever you wish, assuming that there is 15 percent relative humidity and more, and have water, based on solar energy only," said Bar.
    Barnie Frieder of Waterseer found a way to supply clean drinking water to those who often only have access to polluted waterways. Using a palm-sized filter with a patented connecter that will fit on any bottle, Frieder demonstrated how his contraption worked.
    "What you do out in the bush or in the Ganges river of where ever you take a bottle, a standard coke bottle or any water bottle, you fill it from that source, you don't have to worry about any of the matter that's in it, you drop in your chlorine tablet, wait eight minutes," he said. Then "you open it up, pour it out ... Le-chaim!"
    And in an area where security is foremost, another inventor found a way to make certain water sources weren't tampered with. While not necessarily only used for water monitoring, the EMZA Wise-eye visual sensor is a palm-sized camera that can send an image back to a mobile phone.
    "This unit is an entire complete surveillance system, with a camera, cables, communications and the brain inside, all the analytics. So it continually surveys the area it monitors and analyses it and sends back an image only if it identifies an alert situation. So the security officer gets on his mobile phone a picture of what's happening in the water site, maybe somebody is trying to steal something or poison the water and he knows how to react," said Zeev Smilansky, company manager.
    With much of the water supply in Israel and neighbouring countries coming from underground water aquifers, increasing pollutants as ground water levels drop has also raised concerns about chemical toxins drinking water. One solution is a portable luminometer such as the one created by Checklight, that can test toxicity within 15 minutes.
    "We have developed a novel system that uses luminescent bacteria to determine chemical toxicity in drinking water. So you can use this system to determine a wide spectrum of chemical toxicants in water that might be put in the water either intentionally or by accident," said CEO Nirit Ulitzur. "With this portable luminometer you can go out to the field and test the water on site," she added.
    Other technologies on display included irrigation methods, waste treatment, and desalination techniques. According to the Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour, Israeli water technology exports brought in one billion U.S. dollars to the country in 2006, a figure the government hopes to double by 2010 - but only a fraction of the expected global water technology trade, forecasted at 537 billion USD by that time.
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