Israel Water Authority's Failed Sea Experiment Costs Millions, Uses Tons of Chemicals

Israel's Water Authority spent 5 million shekels (approximately $1.3 million USD) on an experiment to eliminate microalgae that disrupted desalination plants, but the effort failed to achieve its goal. The experiment involved releasing 70 tons of chemicals into the Mediterranean Sea, according to a report from the Water Authority for the third quarter of 2026, as detailed by "Calcalist." The company BlueGreen was contracted for the operation and received the 5 million shekel payment. The release included 40 tons of copper sulfate and 30 tons of aluminum sulfate, conducted under a permit from the Ministry of Environmental Protection. This initiative occurred during a water supply crisis in August, when five of Israel's six desalination plants, which supply about 80% of the country's water, operated at reduced capacity for a month due to a massive bloom of microalgae. The public was not informed about the experiment beforehand. Following the chemical dispersal, the Ministry of Health recommended a temporary ban on fishing in the affected area. The full impact of the experiment on the marine ecosystem remains under investigation. Dr. Zvi Steiner of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem warned that copper could harm zooplankton, a food source for fish, and that copper does not degrade, potentially re-entering the water from the seabed. He also cautioned that chemical use might trigger another algal bloom, possibly one resistant to copper. The Water Authority stated that the decision to proceed was made after consulting with specialists from the authority, the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute, and the Ministries of Health and Environmental Protection. They acknowledged the ambiguous results and decided to continue studying them without further chemical treatment of the sea.