Water produced from the sea by the Alexander Zarchin desalination process will be competitive in costs with water for household purposes from normal sources but the de-salted water will be too costly for large-scale irrigation use, Mordechai Bentov, Israel’s Minister for Development, said today.
He said that work was proceeding on schedule on the desalination plant being built near Eilat by his Ministry and the Fairbanks Whitney Corporation of Chicago. He said the plant would go into operation early next year. He also estimated, at a press conference, that the cost of the de-salted water would be appreciably less than the present cost of water in highly elevated Jerusalem or in the more distant central Negev areas.
The Minister revealed than an agreement had been reached with the newly established America-Israel Phosphate Company, a subsidiary of the United States Albumina company, giving the subsidiary prospecting rights for phosphate over a substantial area in the Negev.
Reporting the stories that define our era. When history unfolds in real-time, the Jewish world turns to JTA. Your support ensures we can document the complexities of war and the resilience of Jewish communities with integrity.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
