Uncredited/AP Cape Town, South Africa has been facing a drought crisis for three years.
Israel’s founders prioritized water conservation before they were an official nation (1948).
Israel purifies nearly 90% of its sewage supply as an alternative source of water for agricultural use.
At the national, provincial, and municipal levels, South Africa’s leaders ignored Cape Town’s shrinking water supply until it became a crisis.
Today, nearly 90% of Israel’s sewage is treated to an ultra pure level for agricultural use.
These two technologies alone could prevent, or at least postpone, another Cape Town-like crisis.
On average, countries use 70% of their fresh water to grow food.
Adopting drip irrigation, as Israel has, could reduce those percentages significantly.
Israel prioritizes keeping leaks to a minimum by fixing pipes or by replacing them before they require emergency repairs.
The country’s water loss is now below 10% due to the use of algorithms that predict where leaks will occur, underground pipe repair tools, and a sonar-like system that pinpoints the locations of tiny leaks that have the potential to grow larger.