Seeking Sustainability: Israel's Evolving Water Management Strategy

Tal, Alon

doi:10.1126/science.1126011

Cited by 167 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…A significant improvement in the permeability of solute-rejecting membranes would also be a large step in improving the economics of desalination for drinking water applications. Desalination is becoming increasingly important for water production in semiarid coastal regions (10,11). Reverse-osmosis membranes are most commonly used for this application, whereas the use of membranes in a forwardosmosis scheme is becoming more interesting to water planners (10,12).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Highly permeable polymeric membranes based on the incorporation of the functional water channel protein Aquaporin Z

Kumar

Grzelakowski

Zilles

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

666

643

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The permeability and solute transport characteristics of amphiphilic triblock-polymer vesicles containing the bacterial water-channel protein Aquaporin Z (AqpZ) were investigated. The vesicles were made of a block copolymer with symmetric poly-(2-methyloxazoline)-poly-(dimethylsiloxane)-poly-(2-methyloxazoline) (PMOXA 15-PDMS110-PMOXA 15) repeat units. Light-scattering measurements on pure polymer vesicles subject to an outwardly directed salt gradient in a stopped-flow apparatus indicated that the polymer vesicles were highly impermeable. However, a large enhancement in water productivity (permeability per unit driving force) of up to Ϸ800 times that of pure polymer was observed when AqpZ was incorporated. The activation energy (E a) of water transport for the protein-polymer vesicles (3.4 kcal/mol) corresponded to that reported for water-channel-mediated water transport in lipid membranes. The solute reflection coefficients of glucose, glycerol, salt, and urea were also calculated, and indicated that these solutes are completely rejected. The productivity of AqpZ-incorporated polymer membranes was at least an order of magnitude larger than values for existing salt-rejecting polymeric membranes. The approach followed here may lead to more productive and sustainable water treatment membranes, whereas the variable levels of permeability obtained with different concentrations of AqpZ may provide a key property for drug delivery applications.permeability ͉ triblock copolymer ͉ water treatment B iological membranes have excellent water transport characteristics, with certain membranes able to regulate permeability over a wide range. The permeability of membranes such as those present in the proximal tubules of the human kidney (1) can be increased by insertion of specific water-channel membrane proteins known as Aquaporins (AQPs). Other biological membranes, such as those in mammalian optic lenses (2), erythrocytes (3), and many other cell membranes (4) are constitutively AQP-rich. The permeabilities of AQP-rich membranes are orders of magnitude higher than those observed for unmodified phospholipid membranes (5). Additionally, some members of the AQP family have excellent solute retention capabilities for small solutes such as urea, glycerol, and glucose, even at high water transport rates (5, 6). These properties result from the unique structure of the water-selective AQPs. These AQPs have six membrane-spanning domains and a unique hourglass structure (7) with conserved charged residues that form a pore that allows both selective water transport and solute rejection. The AQP used in this study was a bacterial aquaporin from Escherichia coli, Aquaporin Z (AqpZ). AqpZ was selected because it can enhance the permeability of lipid vesicles by an order of magnitude while retaining small uncharged solutes (5). Additionally, AqpZ can be expressed in relatively large quantities in E. coli and has been reported to be quite stable under different reducing conditions and at temperatures of 4°C (5)-properties that make it att...

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Highly permeable polymeric membranes based on the incorporation of the functional water channel protein Aquaporin Z

Kumar

Grzelakowski

Zilles

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

666

643

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“…one-third of the Israeli freshwater needs (Tal, 2006). The lake receives 70 % of its surface water from the northern Jordan River (Borisover, et al, 2009).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Can Integrated Water Resources Management Contribute to Sustainable Peace in the Middle East?

Mourad

Berndtsson

Aggestam

2013

GEP

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“…Automation of irrigation is one of the means to raise crop production per unit of water, through a strategy that aggressively utilizes waste water, drip irrigation and more recently desalinized sea water. Israelis enjoy a high quality of life which belies the remarkably low 300 m 3 per capita level of water (Tal, 2006). Therefore, the objective of this paper is to review the irrigation system of Israel and to identify the irrigation system that could be effective in arid and semi-arid region for efficient utilization of scares water resources in Israel.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Irrigation system in Israel: A review

Megersa¹,

Abdulahi²

2015

Int. J. Water Res. Environ. Eng.

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The objective of this paper was to review the irrigation system of Israel and to identify the most common irrigation methods used for safe, efficient and sustainable agricultural production in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Israel is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and characterized by desert and semi-desert climatic conditions. Major constraints of the country include: Frequent droughts, desertification of agricultural land, rapid urbanization, depleting resources: technological uncertainty and high cost of non-conventional sources, degradation of water quality and increased water scarcity. Among these constrains, water scarcity is the primary limiting factor in Israel agriculture while the country depends on irrigation. The main water source for agriculture is pressure drip irrigation systems. Drip irrigation has the highest water efficiency rate in agriculture, reaching a 70 to 80% rate, versus open irrigation, which achieves 40%. Recycled use of water, waste water, adding nutrients mixed in with the water and desalination are the recent new innovation used to solve problem of water scarcity in Israel. Therefore, technology currently innovated to alleviate problem of irrigation water resources by Israel should have to be adopted in arid and semi arid of the world to increase the productivity.

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Seeking Sustainability: Israel's Evolving Water Management Strategy

Cited by 167 publications

References 8 publications

Highly permeable polymeric membranes based on the incorporation of the functional water channel protein Aquaporin Z

Highly permeable polymeric membranes based on the incorporation of the functional water channel protein Aquaporin Z

Can Integrated Water Resources Management Contribute to Sustainable Peace in the Middle East?

Irrigation system in Israel: A review

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