News - Middle East

A Nile Delta algae bloom forced five of Israel's six desalination plants offline this week, an "extremely rare event" that underscores how heavily Israel and the wider Middle East depend on desalinated water.

Saudi Arabia's National Water Company plans to tender 51 sewage treatment plants with 888,000 cubic meters of daily capacity, part of a broader Gulf push to diversify water infrastructure after an algae bloom knocked out most of Israel's desalination plants.