Blogs

Key Takeaways During Israel’s September 2026 desalination crisis, the Synechococcus bloom drove large dissolved oxygen swings at intake structures — photosynthesis pushed DO up during the day, respiration pulled it down at night — which changes disinfection chemistry and pretreatment behavior (Misbar, September 10, 2026). Israel’s Energy Ministry ordered aerial dispersal of copper-containing compounds along…

Key Takeaways Israel’s September 2026 algae bloom showed what happens to a nation that draws roughly 80% of its municipal drinking water from seawater desalination when a biological event overwhelms intake protection (Times of Israel, September 2, 2026). Five plants carried the loss together — Ashkelon, Ashdod, Palmachim, Sorek A, and Sorek B. Capacity concentrated…

Key Takeaways Israel’s September 2026 shutdown of five Mediterranean desalination plants showed how an algae-driven turbidity event stacks on top of the fouling stress membranes already carry — scaling, biofouling, organic fouling — the problems softener valve pretreatment reduces (Times of Israel, September 2, 2026). Seawater RO systems typically run at 30-45% recovery, which means…

Key Takeaways Israel’s September 2026 desalination crisis began when algae-driven turbidity at the intake crossed the operating limit on five plants that together supply roughly 80% of the country’s municipal drinking water (Times of Israel, September 2, 2026). The cyanobacterium behind the bloom, Synechococcus, is roughly two microns across — small enough to pass standard…

Key Takeaways In late August and early September 2026, a microalgae bloom that drifted north from Egypt’s Nile Delta shut down five of Israel’s six Mediterranean desalination plants at once, disrupting a supply source that covers roughly 80% of municipal drinking water (Times of Israel, September 2, 2026). The plants — Ashkelon, Ashdod, Palmachim, Sorek…

Key Takeaways On August 31, 2026, Israel’s Water Authority announced that five of six Mediterranean desalination plants were offline — Ashkelon, Ashdod, Palmachim, Sorek A, and Sorek B — after a microalgae bloom pushed seawater turbidity past what their pretreatment could handle. The affected plants normally cover roughly 80% of the country’s municipal drinking water…