Today we went on a tour of The SHAFDAN wastewater treatment plant outside of Tel Aviv. To begin our tour, we learned about the series of steps that waste water goes through to be cleaned. Sewage water is piped to the plant and starts off in a preliminary stage where trash like wood chips, leaves, plastic and wipes are removed from the water. The water eventually reaches a state of sanitation after undergoing numerous additional steps such as primary sedimentation and chemical sterilization. Going into this experience, I won’t lie and say I was particularly excited. However, my expectations were quickly exceeded when we entered a glass floored room with colored lights illuminating the pipes below us, as well as the entirety of the walls. The odor was enveloping and overwhelming to my senses - as you would expect from the type of business we would be learning about. Next, we sat in on a talk about the water filtration system and learned numerous interesting facts like flushing the toilet wastes the most water and Israel purifies 85% of waste water in their country. They are the world leader in this! Next we watched a beautifully produced video about water and its different uses. Lastly, we headed to the bus to take a tour of the infrastructure and different steps in the cleaning process. We ended the tour with a group photo next to a giant green toilet, which greeted visitors at the entrance to the facility.