The MENA region has only 1% of the world’s renewable water supply. 99% of Egyptians live along the Nile and take a disproportionate share. The deserts were never meant to house so many people. Big oil is the reason for the population explosion in most of these Countries causing many conflicts over water.
Israel relies for about half of its water supply on unconventional water resources, including reclaimed water and desalination. A particularly long drought in 1998–2002 had prompted the government to promote large-scale seawater desalination. In 2022, 85% of Israel’s drinkable water was produced through desalination of saltwater and brackish water.
Desalination was first developed in Israel in 1965, when Mekorot, Israel’s national water utility, established the first seawater desalination facility using vaporization technology.