Israel’s national water company, Mekorot, has selected a number of companies, both local and international, to design the country’s future water sector, reports The Jersusalem Post.
The chosen firms will be responsible for the development of Israel’s domestic water sector as well as projects to supply water to neighbouring countries, including Jordan.
According to the Israeli media, Mekorot plans to connect new desalination facilities in Israel’s North and center. It also wishes to connect the Western Galilee to the National Water Carrier and connect the Arava in the South to seawater desalination facilities.
In late 2020, Mekorot published a tender to receive proposals from Israeli and foreign planning companies, having decided to update the entities it works with. The proposals received were examined with an emphasis on the candidates’ experience, size, range of engineering experience and command of advanced engineering and design methods.
The companies that won the tender include Germany’s CDM Consult GmbH together with Israel’s Ecolog Engineering Ltd.; Spain’s Intecsa-Inarsa SA with Israel’s Marshall Engineering Ltd.; Italy’s Studio Altieri SpA with Israel’s Baran Group Ltd.; Britain’s Bechtel Corporation with Israel’s S. Gilboa Engineers Ltd.; the US-based HDR Inc. with Israel’s Magelan Planning and Engineering Consulting Ltd. and Y. Shifris Consulting Engineers Ltd.; and Spain’s Typsa Group SA with Israel’s Tahal Consulting Engineers Ltd.
Mekorot said that the companies and consortia selected would be responsible for several projects totaling around NIS 500 million (over US$548 million) over the next five years. The projects would include the engineering and statutory design of water production, treatment and distribution systems and facilities.
Mekorot Board of Directors chairman Yitzhak Aharonovich, said: “The new planning concept will enable the company to streamline, lower project costs and implement new work methods that are routinely used in advanced Western countries.”
“The planning revolution will enable the creation of engineering reserves for the needs of the economy,” added Mekorot VP of Development and Customers Avi Malul. “The use of advanced technologies will result in the building of efficient and reliable water infrastructures and optimize budget use.”