Seven local and international groups have approached the pre-qualification stage in the tender for the construction and operation of a new desalination facility in Soreq, which is intended to produce about 200 million cubic meters of water a year, bringing the total production of water in the desalination plants to 785 million cubic meters a year, equivalent to 85% of the total domestic and urban consumption each year. According to Accountant General Rony Hizkiyahu, "The new facility, which is expected to be the largest of its kind in the world, will increase the desalinated water production in Israel by 25%, thereby helping the water sector cope with the ongoing deterioration in the state of the country's natural water resources."