To help reduce water use from depleting ground resources, as of March Tehran Water and Wastewater Company will supply Tehran Municipality 40 million cubic meters of treated wastewater a year for parks and greenspaces, head of TWWC's Department of Financial Affairs said.
“TM takes 180 million cubic meters of water from depleting underground resources in the sprawling capital per year,” Mina Rafati was quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry News portal.
Tehran Municipality uses half million cubic meters of water every day all of which is from underground tables that are on the verge of disappearing, she complained.
“Thus, TWWC and TM signed a contract last December based on which the latter is obliged to use only recycled wastewater instead of the rapidly diminishing underground resources.”
As per the contract, TM is required to meet at least 60% of its daily need (500,000 cubic meters) from unconventional sources, namely reclaimed wastewater, she said.
Tehran Water and Wastewater Company is able to deliver as much as 40 mcm of treated wastewater to the capital’s municipality per year this will rise by at least 15 mcm every year.
Six wastewater treatment plants are up and running in Tehran producing 450,000 cubic meters of processed sewage a day.
The output, which complies with environmental standards, is piped largely to south Tehran for farming and industrial use and is also suitable for green spaces, Rafati said.
Recalling that wastewater is playing an increasingly important role in conserving water resources in most countries, she said, “The TWWC is ready to supply 110,000 cubic meters of wastewater to municipalities” across the megacity per day.
Tehran wastewater treatment plants are in Shahrak-e- Gharb, Shahrak-e Mahallati, Ekbatan Town, Zargandeh, Qeytariyeh and Sahebqaraniyeh districts.
An estimated $2 billion has been spent on expanding wastewater infrastructure in the capital home to at least 13 million people.
Prohibitive Consumption
In related news, IRNA quoted Qasem Taqizadeh Khamesi, director of the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company of Iran (Abfa), as saying that daily water use in the province (210-250 liters per capita) is 20% higher than other cities and 30% above other megacities with the same population.
The amount of potable water used annually in Tehran Province exceeds 1.4 billion cubic meters, accounting for almost 20% of the total fresh water consumption in the country of 80 million plus people.
Construction of nine wastewater treatment plants and sewage network around Tehran Province will start in the next calendar year (starts March 2021).
“The counties include Qarchak, Varamin, Pakdasht, Qods City, Rudehen, Baharestan, Rudbar-e Qasran, Damavand and Firuzkuh.”
“If we really want a decent future for Tehran and its surrounding areas, it is crucial to seal water wells used by TM and farmers and supply their needs from recycled water,” Khamesi said.
Expansion of wastewater network has been a priority in the capital in recent decades, but lack of funds in addition to rapid expansion of urban areas has slowed, and at times hampered, the process, the official concurred.
He warned that water wells in Tehran are in bad shape and the situation cannot improve with good rains in one or two years.
Surveys of groundwater sources in the plains show that the situation is worsening across the board and creating serious concern among the people conservationists, environmentalists and experts.
The steep decline in groundwater levels is having devastating consequences. Excessive pumping is harming groundwater tables and stopping wells from reaching groundwater. When groundwater is overused, lakes, streams and rivers connected to groundwater also start diminishing.
