For years, Israelis were told to save water. Widespread media campaigns told citizens that Israel was “drying up” and that every effort was to be made to consume less water. That has become a distant memory, as the country undertook a massive effort to desalinate seawater at the beginning of this century.
Since then, seven desalination plants have been built around the country, some of which are considered the largest ones in the world in terms of their daily processing capacity. Currently, around 75% of Israel’s drinking water is desalinated from the Mediterranean Sea. According to the Israel Water Authority, completing an additional plant in the coming years will result in Israel’s water supply, including for industry and agriculture, being 90% desalinated.
Israel is a largely arid country with the highest birth rate in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the water demand is only growing. Climate change has also brought about a decline in precipitation, making the threat of drought a real one that was overcome by a strategic decision and successful implementation of transitioning to dependency on desalination, as well as numerous other efforts that led to a reduction in consumption.
With the advantages of desalination, new challenges have risen.
According to a recent study by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, the solution to Israel’s water shortage has created an unwanted side effect of magnesium deficiency in the public. This is a serious health problem that needs to be addressed. It threatens public health, which could subsequently take a toll on the economy.
Desalinated water lacks magnesium, while natural water accounts for between 10% and 20% of magnesium intake in Israel. The study found that a lack of magnesium leads to an increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes and more cases of ischemic stroke, both of which significantly add to the country’s healthcare system.
Magnesium is a critical mineral for human beings and contributes to the proper function of many human organs. It plays a critical role in glucose and insulin. Insulin is a hormone that turns food into energy and manages blood sugar levels in the body.
Basically, you need magnesium to live. It is vital to around 600 different metabolic processes in the body and critical to the metabolism of the cell, making it especially important in everything to do with transporting nutrients from the bloodstream to the cells and regulation of insulin.
“Basically, you need magnesium to live,” Maya Sadeh, Head of the Environment and Health Research and Policy Initiative at the Taub Center and part of the research, told The Media Line. “It is vital to around 600 different metabolic processes in the body and critical to the metabolism of the cell, making it especially important in everything to do with transporting nutrients from the bloodstream to the cells and regulation of insulin.”
OECD data from 2019 placed Israel sixth in the prevalence of diabetes amongst adults, with almost 10% diagnosed with the chronic disease. It is believed that many more cases are undiagnosed.
There are figures which show that 30% of the national health expenditure is spent on the care of diabetes. Anything that can contribute to the reduction of this number is beneficial, in addition, of course, to reducing the suffering from this disease.
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“There are figures which show that 30% of the national health expenditure is spent on the care of diabetes,” said Sadeh. “Anything that can contribute to the reduction of this number is beneficial, in addition, of course, to reducing the suffering from this disease.”
While the body has magnesium reserves in the bones and the muscles, it also gets it from other sources.
“On average, Israelis used to get about 15% of their magnesium from water, with fruits, vegetables, and nuts being additional sources,” Sadeh said. “The problem is that our diet is also deteriorating, and people are eating less fresh produce and more processed foods, and basic consumption of magnesium without drinking water is already declining.”
The lack of magnesium in the water has a ripple effect. Not only is drinking water void of critical minerals but agricultural produce and crops that feed off the same water are also expected to have less magnesium.
Sadeh acknowledged the high complexity of diseases such as diabetes, which makes it difficult to isolate their exact cause or whether the increase in its prevalence is directly or solely related to the growing dependency on desalinated water.
The Israeli Health Ministry’s policy is to add magnesium back into the desalinated water, which it estimates will reduce 250 cases of mortality due to diseases of the coronary heart vessels.
Magnesium should have been added to the water a long time ago; it is clear there is a deficiency, and it is not healthy to drink such water, which otherwise is of excellent quality. The decision not to do so was premature before the major research on magnesium existed.
“Magnesium should have been added to the water a long time ago; it is clear there is a deficiency, and it is not healthy to drink such water, which otherwise is of excellent quality,” said Professor Ori Lahav, Dean of the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology told The Media Line. “The decision not to do so was premature before the major research on magnesium existed.”
Public health regulations from 2013 already state that the issue must be monitored to prevent serious health problems “because water is an important source of minerals.”
A joint study conducted by Bar Ilan University and the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv in 2016 found a higher death rate from fatal heart disease in areas in which desalinated water is consumed than in other regions.
According to Lahav, there are two main ways to desalinate water, but both strip the water of all its nutrients. There is no way to avoid the lack of magnesium. The water is also stripped of calcium, iodine, and fluoride, which are critical in different ways.
Calcium is already being added to the desalinated water to prevent corrosion and dissolution of the pipes that carry the water, which can lead to increased health risks from the pipe material seeping into the water supply.
Saudi Arabia, an arid country that also relies on desalinated water, is already practicing the addition of magnesium back to the water. This technology was developed in the Technion and is not being used in Israel because, according to Lahav, there are ‘distorted’ estimates of how costly such a practice would be. Lahav said the Israel Water Authority overestimates the cost to at least double the direct cost without considering the indirect cost of magnesium deficiency caused by disease.
Magnesium is an additive recommended by the Ministry of Health but is not part of the necessary conditions to guarantee water worthy of drinking. There are many countries in the world who do not have magnesium at all in their natural drinking water.
“Magnesium is an additive recommended by the Ministry of Health but is not part of the necessary conditions to guarantee water worthy of drinking,” read a statement by the Israel Water Authority in response to a request by The Media Line. “There are many countries in the world who do not have magnesium at all in their natural drinking water.”
Further in the statement, the authority states that the amount of water reaching the human body is minuscule, with most desalinated water used for sanitation, gardening, and washing machines.
“Adding magnesium to the desalinated water will increase its price by 4%,” the statement continued. “Should the health ministry decide this has merit, it will need to find the budgetary source for it.”
Meanwhile, Israelis will likely experience declining magnesium levels until a decision is made.