Michigan’s Lt. Gov. John Cherry Jr. has helped to secure commitments from two Israeli water companies, EPC and Emefcy, to set up pilot operations in his state.

A Green Jobs for Blue Waters initiative in Michigan is working to make the US state into a North American leader in water technology. Israel, the “Silicon Valley” of water technology, is fast becoming a cleantech incubator to the world. Israel recycles 75 percent of its wastewater, invented drip irrigation, and is home to the world’s largest reverse osmosis desalination plant.

Israel-based EPC is planning to locate pilot projects in the US state’s Oakland County. EPC is focused on the development, production and sales of on-site wastewater treatment plants based on a full biological process.

The company’s decentralized approach is expected to help improve water quality, reduce energy costs and benefit the community’s economic development efforts.

The second Israel-based company that will locate a pilot project in Michigan is Emefcy. The company’s technology produces electricity from the wastewater treatment process using microbial fuel cell technology, and is expected to help reduce energy costs at wastewater plants.

The technology has applications in industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants, the food-processing industry, and in the agricultural community for confined animal feeding operations.