Tehran Hosts Confab on Water Management

The First National Conference on Water Loss and Consumption Management kicked off today at Tehran's Abbaspour School of Engineering to tackle Iran's chronic water problem.

The two-day event aims to provide an opportunity for water experts to discuss water wastage and management as well as the most recent scientific achievements in water engineering so as to find a way out of the trouble, IRNA reported.

During a recent press conference, Shahin Pakrouh, a deputy at National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company, said 25% of water consumption per capita is wasted, of which 13% is "real" and 12% is "apparent".

Real wastage is the amount of water discharged from the water distribution system and the apparent wastage is the amount consumed but not measured due to a number of reasons, including deficiency of water meters.

"Based on the schemes suggested by the company, real water wastage should decrease by 0.5% to 1% each year for which an annual budget of 15 trillion rials ($359 million) is required," he said.

Experts believe Iran should make preparations for a water-scarce future.

"Anyhow, consumption management is a key strategy to supply water under the present critical conditions," the company official said.  

Official data suggest water consumption in the agricultural and industrial sectors has a mere 30% efficiency, which pales in comparison to the global average of 75%.

Reportedly, the rate of precipitation in Iran is about a third of the global average.

According to Pakrouh, the average rainfall over the past few years was 250 mm that decreased further to 230 mm in the last water year (ended Sept. 24, 2016).

This is while evaporation rate is above the global norm.

To make matters worse, "each Iranian consumes approximately 160 liters of water daily", he said.

To at least partially address the issue, the company has proposed five solutions, including decreasing water waste, holding social and cultural training courses, supplying efficient water equipment, modifying water subsidies and passing effective water consumption laws and regulations.

"The solutions are to be comprehensively discussed by the experts and authorities during the conference," Pakrouh said.

Co-organized by Iran Water and Wastewater Association, Shahid Beheshti University and Water and Wastewater Company of Iran, three round-tables will be held at the conference focusing on "practical methods to manage water consumption", "solutions to decrease real water wastage" and "modification of measurement techniques and increasing the accuracy of urban water meters".

Reportedly, 200 articles have been submitted to the event's secretariat for presentation, while 11 workshops and an exhibition are to be held on the sidelines of the event.

Twenty-four companies active in water consumption management are participating in the conference.

The conference will wrap up on Dec. 20.