Water Technologies

The cooperation between the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) and the Israeli Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology (MOST) in the field of water technology has been supporting research and development projects since 1974 through annual calls for proposals on current priority topics. The aim is to develop innovations in water technology and water systems that can also be applied to other regions. A trusting collaboration between Israeli and German researchers has emerged through 175 projects to date.

Water in sufficient quantity and quality is essential for life. However, global water demand is rising continuously, whilst natural water resources and water-dependent ecosystems are rapidly declining. This is all the more true in arid and semi-arid regions. Innovations in water technology are key to tackling this growing problem of water scarcity. Germany and Israel are international technology pioneers and offer solutions for sustainable water management that are used worldwide. In this way, the two countries are working together to find answers to these challenges and are helping to supply a growing global population with clean water.

The objectives of the German-Israeli Water Technology Cooperation programme are:

• Developing innovative solutions to water-related challenges in Israel, its neighbouring regions or Germany, with applicability to comparable regions
• Promoting the introduction of state-of-the-art water and environmental technologies in industry
• Supporting and strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the water sector, as well as collaboration between science and industry.

The overarching technical spectrum of cooperation includes:

• Wastewater treatment and reuse
• Energy efficiency in the water sector
• Groundwater investigation and remediation
• Drinking water treatment and health aspects of drinking water supply
• Integrated water resources management.

In 2026, twelve water technology cooperation projects were underway. The focus is on water reuse, groundwater, irrigation efficiency and water quality protection. Outstanding results have been published via the BMFTR’s Atlas of Water Innovations.

The Status Seminar 2022 in Ashdod, Israel, in October 2022 produced an overview of current activities in water technology cooperation. The Status Seminar 2024 took place in Koblenz, Germany, in June 2024. It marked the 50th anniversary of cooperation in water technology.

In 1999, BMFTR and MOST launched the Young Scientists Exchange Program (YSEP) with a view to promoting long-term bilateral cooperation. By the end of 2025, 155 early-career researchers from Israel and Germany had already benefited from the exchange programme.

Next to bilateral cooperation, multilateral collaborative projects have also been carried out since 1997, involving German, Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian research institutions. Between 2006 and 2019, a multilateral multi-phase project was implemented under the title “Integrated Water Resources Management in the Lower Jordan Rift Valley: SMART – Sustainable Management of Available Water Resources with Innovative Technologies”. The research consortium included a total of 17 partner institutions, from universities and research institutions to public authorities, businesses and non-governmental organizations from Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Germany.

In addtion, the BMFTR funded multilateral collaborative projects with Israel under the umbrella of the MEWAC programme 2021-2024 (Middle East Regional Water Research Cooperation Program). The programme focused on the development of new technologies and strategies to increase water use efficiency and promote integrated water resource management across national borders. Israel was also collaborating with Germany on jointly supporting cooperation on water technologies with neighbouring Arab countries and is providing specific funding for this purpose. Since 2021, three collaborative projects with partners from Germany, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories have been funded under the MEWAC programme. These cross-border projects are aimed at increasing water security in the Middle East.