The Israeli government is spending more than NIS 50 million ($16.2 million) on replacement membranes intended for emergency use at privately operated desalination facilities, as the country continues to deal with a major disruption caused by microalgae contamination.

The expenditure comes after five of Israel’s six desalination plants were forced to shut down last month when Mediterranean currents carried microalgae northward from the Nile Delta toward Israel’s southern and central-southern coastlines. The disruption temporarily halted irrigation for agricultural crops in the south, along with watering for parks and gardens across the country. Drinking water deliveries to residential consumers, however, remained uninterrupted.

As of Tuesday, the Ashdod and Palmachim facilities were operating at approximately 80% capacity because of elevated seawater turbidity caused by the continuing microalgae contamination. The suspended particles can interfere with pretreatment systems and potentially damage the delicate membranes used to filter seawater under high pressure.

The Sorek A and Ashkelon desalination plants were functioning at full capacity. Sorek B was operating at approximately 50% capacity because of a technical malfunction.

The Hadera facility was the only desalination plant along Israel’s Mediterranean coastline to remain operational throughout the disruption, owing to its location north of the affected microalgae.

All six desalination facilities are privately operated. Asked why public funds were being used to purchase emergency equipment for privately run plants, a spokesperson for the Water Authority explained, “Should there be a need to use the emergency membranes, state authorization is required. This involves building an emergency stock in case damage accumulates on the membranes, and they require replacement.”

The spokesperson said the government had already allocated approximately NIS 23.6 million ($7.66 million) for the purchase of new membranes, with an additional NIS 27 million ($8.77 million) expected to be spent by the end of the year.

Desalination facilities supply as much as 80% of Israel’s drinking water, making them a critical component of the country’s water infrastructure in a region regularly threatened by severe water shortages and drought.