The running-in of the first desalination plant in Eilat to utilize the method invented by Israeli scientist Alexander Zarchin has been started, and three other units will be completed and run-in in the next two months, it was announced here today by officials of Desalination Plant Company; Ltd, which is developing the process.
The developing company is jointly owned by the Israeli Government, the inventor and Fairbanks-Whithey, Inc. of Wisconsin, with 37, 13 and 50 per cent of the shares respectively.
The announcement said that, by March, Eilat will have 1,000 cubic meters of desalinated water per day from all four units. Construction of the units was started in May of last year. The cost of production of the sweet water will be one Israel pound (33 cents) per cubic meter.
The officials said that the desalination of waters from the Mediterranean Sea would be cheaper than Red Sea water, since it is not as hard. They said that Fairbanks-Whitney is now designing a plant that will produce almost double the quantity of drinking water compared with the capacity of the present experimental plant at Eilat.
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