Sarah Sylvetsky, Author at Waterline

April 18, 2019March 5, 2020

The Israeli Model: Water Education

It’s no secret that Israelis consume twice the amount of water nature supplies it with. The main enabler for this phenomenon is a unique model that lies at the heart of the Israeli water sector. SPELT – Structure, Pricing, Education, Legislation and Technology are the 5 key elements.

In this episode – the first one exploring the model’s aspects – we examine the role education plays in the model.

High-schools and the academia are constantly in correspondence, and the system as a whole encourages this dialogue between seemingly two different levels of education.

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Two guests share their story – Dr. Amnon Shefi created a platform that enables school kids to explore water issues using STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts & mathematics) education to instigate a life long ethos of exploration;

Emily Elhacham decided at the age of 15 that if you wish to know something – ask someone to show you the way. A professor at Tel Aviv University opened the door for her – and the rest is all of her own making. Today she leads the way for others to explore and a programme combining high-schools in her hometown and Bar Ilan University she established (while still a high-school student herself) still runs strong a decade afterwards.

Interviewed in this episode:

Oded Distel – head of Israel NewTech.

Dr. Amnon Shefi – Hi Teach

Emily Elhacham – Scientist, Weizman Institute and Tel Aviv University

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Follow these links to learn more:

WATEC 2019

Israel NewTech

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Hi Teach full list of supporters –

The Hands Across Water program is sponsored and supported by the Rotary including the Water & Sanitation committee of district 2490 headed by PDG Avner Fuchs, and hosted by the Haifa club in partnership with 10 international clubs, headed by Dr. Gerald Sussman past president of the Coral Spring/Parkland club.
It is also supported by the Israeli water industry like Bermad, Israel NewTech at The ministry of Economy as well as the Water Authority and the academia in Israel headed by the Technion Grand Water Research institute.
Their contribution and support is greatly appreciated

Music credits

Hyperfun Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Dreamer Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Waterline theme by Nir Sayag

Stay in touch! for updates follow the podcast on Facebook where you can also join the conversation and give us feedback- or email us at Waterline@podil.net

April 1, 2019March 5, 2020

Form Follows Flow: Designing with Water in Mind

Design, has a profound impact on the way we live, influencing the way we go about our day-to-day, the way we make decisions – design isn’t about aesthetics but rather about developing solutions with the ultimate goal of making our lives better. In this episode we explore water through design – how do we use design to promote widespread sustainable water usage in the private and public sphere?

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The architect Dr. Noam Austerlitz created a dual sewage system in his house. Part of the water goes straight to the municipal system whilst water from wash basins, showers and the washing machine goes to a special filtration system – a live system where the water is circulated and purified through a bed of plants and bacteria. The results are many fold – ranging from a lush green garden that pleases the eyes to the much more task of preventing floods.

The UX/UI specialist Ayelet Lazarovich talks about the notion of sustainable design, the crossroads where water and design meet. Contrary to what you might think when you hear these words, you’ll be surprised to learn how little it has to do with “tree hugging”.

Interviewed in this episode:

Dr. Noam Austerlitz – architect and scholar (Linkedin)

Ayelet Lazarovich – UX/UI specialist https://www.ayeletlazarovitch.com/

Chris Dermody – CIO, Denver Water (Linkedin) – Mr. Dermody was a guest from the https://www.ici.fund/

Music credits –

Panama Hat – Audionautix.com

Waterline theme by Nir Sayag

Theme and music composed by Nir Sayag.

Stay in touch! for updates follow the podcast on Facebook where you can also join the conversation and give us feedback- or email us at Waterline@podil.net

March 5, 2019March 5, 2020

The International Water Association: Innovating Together

The International Water Association was established 20 years ago to create a worldwide organization that promotes and enables “creative friction”, in their own words, between engineers, innovators, governance experts, and water sector people across the range.

Diane D’arras – IWA’s president since 2016 – was interviewed in Waterline’s special studio, part of the Israeli pavilion at the 8th World Water Forum that convened in Brasilia in March 2018.

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Theme and music composed by Nir Sayag.

Stay in touch! for updates follow the podcast on Facebook where you can also join the conversation and give us feedback- or email us at Waterline@podil.net

February 15, 2019March 5, 2020

Solving the Water Crisis: Israel’s Story with Seth M. Siegel

Situated in a semiarid region, Israel’s natural water resources supply it with only half of what it uses annually. The gap is being bridged by a unique combination of implemented technology, education and smart governance that enables more water to be manufactured and used. The result – a thriving country with a booming economy.

However, the story of the Israeli water sector was very rarely told. In 2015 Seth Siegel – an American author publishes a book that almost instantaneously finds its way to the bestseller lists of the New-York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post.

This episode of Waterline features the full interview with Seth Siegel about his book Let There Be Water – Israel’s Solution for a Water Starved World.
The interview was conducted in September of 2017.

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Theme and music composed by Nir Sayag.

Image Sources:

Seth M. Siegel Photo By 1114Penelope – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42285616

“Let There Be Water” Book Cover Image by: Seth Siegel – Seth M. Siegel, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40093385

Stay in touch! for updates follow the podcast on Facebook where you can also join the conversation and give us feedback- or email us at Waterline@podil.net

July 20, 2018March 5, 2020

The Thirst – The Mediterranean Case

The Mediterranean sea is where Europe, Asia, and Africa all meet.

Throughout the ages, empires ruled over its entire coastline, and people used it to transfer goods, for recreation purposes, or to harvest its many food items.

Today along its shores there are more than 20 countries. No longer a single empire – but rather a Mosaic of People, as was described by Waterline’s guest in this episode.

Konstantina Toli, a Senior Programme Officer at Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean, points out the great challenges that are presented as our world is changing – namely climate change and the refugee’s crisis.
For example, in the past 5 years, nearly 2,000,000 human beings risked their lives in search of a better life and used the treacherous Mediterranean route.
The result – the stresses on water supplies in the region which were already quite significant, are constantly on the rise.

The interview was recorded during the 8th World Water Forum in Brasilia, in March of 2018.

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Interviewed in this episode:

Konstantina Toli – GWP-Med

Theme and music composed by Nir Sayag.

July 4, 2018March 5, 2020

A Crack in the Wall – On Dams (part 2)

In this second part of our tale of dams, we will hear what happens once things go horribly wrong.
Throughout history, faulty dams have created man-made disasters costing lives and the earth.
We will be hearing about one disaster in particular – The Mariana Dam Disaster – that happened in Brazil in 2015.

We will also revisit the town of Gatun, the dam that was built there and the lake that made the Panama Canal, with a somber look on the life of ordinary people there.

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Interviewed in this episode:

Roberto Waack – CEO, The Renova Foundation

Olga Reyes – V.P. Public Affairs and Communication, The Coca-Cola Company in Latin America https://www.linkedin.com/in/olga-patricia-reyes-abisambra-2b6a5b43/

We wish to thank the Panama Canal Authority, whose records on the history of the Panama Canal’s construction provided great help in the crafting of this episode.
Research for this episode was done by Nate Nelson.

Photo By Agência Brasil Fotografias – Dois anos da tragédia de Mariana (MG), CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63842052

Audio segments used:

Audionautix.com – Solo Acoustic 5
http://audionautix.com/Music/SoloAcoustic5.mp3

Prelude and Action
https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100887
Prelude and Action Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Descent
https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200094
The Descent Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Comfortable Mystery
https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100287
“Comfortable Mystery” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

June 7, 2018March 5, 2020

Building a Dam in Gatun – On Dams (part 1)

It took nearly four decades, the lives of some 30,000 human beings and billions of US Dollars in current values to build; it was a source for heated debates and the kiss of death to some careers; it was rooted in vision – but took ample amounts of practicality to realize. You might know it simply as The Panama Canal – in a stretch of land not wider than 70 kilometers wide, humanity saw the opportunity to connect two great oceans – the Atlantic and the Pacific – and managed to cut the route by sea from California to Europe – by half.

The keystone of the canal is a dam that was the biggest ever to be built at the time – the dam near the small town of Gatun.
You are invited to hear a tale about politics, engineering, money and tons of controversy, which, a century on is all but forgotten.

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We wish to thank the Panama Canal Authority, whose records on the history of the Panama Canal’s construction provided great help in the crafting of this episode.

Research for this episode was done by Nate Nelson.

Audio segments used:

Panama Canal archive movie:

https://archive.org/details/0384_Panama_Canal_15_10_55_19#

https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

https://freesound.org/people/thorvandahl/sounds/383314/

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Amazing Plan:

https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100737

Amazing Plan Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)