Periodic droughts and the effects of climate change require that Australia continues to innovate and build resilience in the water sector. It is useful for water professionals to look at novel solutions and innovation overseas as well.
An example is Israel, a country with more than 60% desert and receiving less rainfall than Australia. From necessity, it has become a pioneer in water innovation.
The upcoming Australia-Israel Innovation Summit on 21 October 2020 taps into that knowledge. The Summit includes a session on “Water Resilience and Innovation” featuring AWA National President Carmel Krogh OAM; Roch Cheroux, Managing Director, Sydney Water; Arup’s Daniel Lambert, Australasia Water Leader; Macinley Butson, NSW Young Australian of the Year 2018 and 2019 Stockholm Junior Water Prize Winner and Raanan Adin, Chairman, Israel Water Association, among others.
In the 1960s Israel invented drip irrigation and in the 1980s achieved wide-scale adoption of waste water recycling for agricultural use. Israel now purifies more than 80% of its waste water. In the 2000s Israel expanded its desalination plant infrastructure so that today 70% of the country’s drinking water now comes from this source.
Of particular interest to Australian water professionals is the ability to gain insight into Israel’s fourth water revolution with the country harnessing big data, analytics and artificial intelligence to optimise water network efficiency and minimise failures.
The virtual Australia-Israel Innovation Summit is being held to stimulate new thinking and expose innovative solutions to Australian organisations grappling with the challenges and accelerated disruption caused by the COVID-era and our “New Normal”.
The Summit will also feature a virtual exhibition featuring Israeli tech companies. AWA members can access the special member rate by emailing events@aicc.org.au
by Water Source
