Agra, Nov 16 (IANS): Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday visited the 144MLD water treatment plant at Sikandra which supplies piped drinking water to around two million residents of the Taj city.

The plant uses Israeli technology from Aqwise.

"It is a great honour to have you here in our treatment facility in Agra -- a place which is a unique manifestation of the close bonding between Israel and India," said Elad Frenkel, Chairman of Israeli Water Sector Steering Committee and CEO of Aqwise.

Frankel said the demand for Israeli technologies both in India as also globally is on account of its innovativeness and efficiency, particularly in the cleantech sector.

The Israeli President surprised everyone when he sipped water from a glass filled with the treated water at the plant.

An official told IANS: "The water treatment facility in the plant is executed by Triveni Engineering Industries Ltd and at its core is advanced biological technology provided by the Israeli company Aqwise, based on AGAR (MBBR) moving bed bio-reactor technology.

"It is an innovative water facility treating water from the Yamuna river, and it provides clean drinking water to two million residents in the city."

This facility is active since 2014 and is the largest in India and among the biggest in the world.

Aqwise has over 400 installations in more than 40 countries.

Talking to media persons, President Rivlin said water and earth were two important things for life.

"God bless India! We hope all homes will get drinking water. This project is the example of the deep bonding of friendship and partnership among our two countries," Rivlin said.

The Israeli President later planted a "Kadamb" sapling in the campus.