In Wisconsin, it is easy to take water for granted.
After all, we have to our east a lake that in surface area is larger than the entire state of Israel, to say nothing of Lake Superior to the north and many rivers and lakes within the state itself.
But as Israeli water businessman Assaf Barnea said in an interview on July 21, “Even if you have enough water, that does not mean you do not have other issues with water management,” such as water purification, pollution, and the like.
And that means that even in relatively water-rich Wisconsin, there could be a market for the kinds of new water technologies that Barnea is helping develop in Israel and throughout the world.
Barnea is chief executive officer of Kinrot Technology Ventures. Founded in 1993, this was the first and is still the world’s leading investor of seed money in new water technology developments and business ideas.
In that capacity, Barnea was in Milwaukee to deliver the keynote address at the third Water Summit convened on July 20 by the Milwaukee 7 Water Council and attended by more than 250 people in the water industry.
Moreover, water technology could become a field of fruitful collaboration between Wisconsin and Israel. At the Water Summit, Gov. Jim Doyle announced that he is planning to travel to Israel to attend the International Water Technologies & Environmental Control Exhibition scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv Nov. 17-19.
In an interview and a discussion with about a dozen people at a lunch convened by the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Partnership 2000 Business to Business Group on July 21, Barnea said that water technology has become “sexy for investors” after decades of neglect.
“There is a convergence happening between high tech and low tech in the water industry,” Barnea said.
As examples, he said that people aren’t just interested in building better pipes for carrying water, but “smart pipes,” that can detect leakages; not just in treating waste water, but extracting energy from it; not just in returning brine to the ocean, but extracting usable chemicals out of it.
Israel is in a particularly advantageous position to contribute to these developments. For decades, according to Kinrot Ventures’ company profile, Israel has pioneered water management techniques, from desalination to deep-well-drilling to drip irrigation to sewage recycling.
Moreover, the region faces a water crisis. Barnea said that Lake Kinneret, Israel’s primary source of fresh water, “is getting to the black line,” a state of possibly “irreversible damage,” with salt and algae accumulations.
Because of its conditions, Israel has “a combination of know-how and expertise” and “ability to think outside the box” when it comes to water management, Barnea told the MJF group.
And because water management is a “global-local problem,” what Israel has learned and developed can be applicable to many parts of the world, he said. Indeed, he pointed out that what is happening to Lake Kinneret is also happening to lakes in the United States, as well as lakes in India and China.
“The way we are trying to position ourselves, we are trying to be the Silicon Valley of water technology,” said Barnea, referring to the California area that became known as the headquarters of computer innovations.
And the potential international reach of these innovations is illustrated by the fact that Kinrot Ventures in 2006 went from being Israeli government funded to private ownership by the Canadian Stern Partners Group.
Barnea brings a diverse background to his job. He has degrees in law, business, political science and psychology. He worked in telecommunications and medical devices businesses before going into water technology development. He also is a former professional basketball player who was a member of Israel’s national basketball team.
The Milwaukee 7 Water Council was founded in 2007. It brings together people from business, academia and government; and seeks to make the Milwaukee area a hub for research, economic development and education in freshwater use and management, according to its Web site.
It was launched by The Milwaukee 7, an economic development effort launched in 2005 to include the seven counties of southeastern Wisconsin: Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Waukesha and Washington.
Formerly op-ed editor, Leon Cohen has written for The Chronicle for more than 25 years.
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