President Hassan Rouhani will open three wastewater treatment plants in southwest and west of Tehran Province via video conference this week.
Built at a cost of $30 million, the projects will underpin wastewater network that has been expanding over four decades in the sprawling province, IRNA reported.
Referring to the first project, the state news agency said the first phase of Malard wastewater plant, 50 kilometers southwest of Tehran, is built on a 15-hectare plot of land.
It will treat 3,500 cubic meters of effluent per day. Close to 130 km of pipelines were laid to complete the project.
The plant uses sequencing batch reactors (SBR) system that is a type of activated sludge process for the treatment of wastewater.
The second project (Safadasht plant) is constructed on four hectares of land and has the capacity to treat 7,800 cubic meters of sewage per day. About 35 km of pipelines were laid for this unit.
Wastewater network in towns in the southwest of Tehran is expanding gradually and the new plants will link half a million people to the grid.
The second phase of Eslamshahr wastewater treatment plant (in southwest Tehran) will be inaugurated soon.
It comprises three sections and is built over 7 hectares.
The plant treats wastewater through denitrogenization and advanced oxidation process. The treated water will be used for agriculture.
Production Capacity
According to Mehdi Akbarian, an official at the Tehran Province Water and Wastewater Company, wastewater treatment plants in and around western Tehran have a total capacity of 60,000 cubic meters per day.
The managing director of TPWWC’s West Tehran Cities and Towns Company was quoted as saying by IRNA that with new treatment units and expanding the network of pipes, this capacity will reach 80,000 cubic meters next March.
Satellite cities and towns in the province’s southwestern regions include Shahriar, Andisheh, Malard, Qods, Baghestan, Saba Shahr, Shahedshahr, Vahidiyeh, Ferdowsieh and Safadasht.
“Expediting construction of wastewater treatment plants in Tehran is a TPWWC priority,” Akbarian said.
Pipe laying has been underway in most districts of the rapidly expanding capital to connect households, businesses and industries to the crucial wastewater system.
Given years of dwindling rainfall and rising consumption, conservationists and experts have called for more funding for collecting, treating and recycling water.
Dwindling Water Tables
Wastewater treatment plants provide water for framing and industrial needs. Expansion of sewerages helps prevent pollution of underground water resources and reduces the need to tap into dwindling underground water tables.
TPWWC reports say 220 wastewater treatment plants are operating across Iran and total sewage treatment capacity has reached 11 million cubic meters a day.
An additional 32 plants are in different stages of construction and are planned to come on stream by 2021.
Over 63,000 km of wastewater pipelines have been laid in the past several years and 295 cities are now connected to the sewage grid.
Approximately 7.5 billion cubic meters of usable water is produced annually, of which 4.3 bcm is wasted. Less than 25% of wastewater is recycled -- a setback that demands proper response and responsibility from those in charge of water affairs.
Speaking about potable water, Akbarian noted: “Drinking water in southwest Tehran comes entirely from underground sources, and the company plans to expand the wastewater network by 90% until 2025”.
In light of the population growth in southwest Tehran, where most people are at the lower end of the economic ladder, the region needs, among other things, sustainable supply of potable water.
“We want to move towards the use of surface waters, but due to lack of infrastructure, this has not been possible yet,” he was quoted as saying.
More households are moving to the southwestern areas of Tehran due to high and rising rents and living cost in the capital city. Low-cost housing complexes have been built in the southwestern towns where rents are much cheaper and affordable.
It is reported that by 2040, population in the western parts of the province will reach 2.5 million.
