The second phase of Birjand Wastewater Treatment Plant has registered 90% progress and is expected to come on stream by January 2022, managing director of South Khorasan Water and Wastewater Company said.
“About $26 million have been spent on the project. Upon completion, it will increase the wastewater treatment capacity of Birjand and improve the quality of treated sewage,” Hossein Emami was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
“We intend to expand the network in a way that it covers the whole city of Birjand. This project has also progressed by 90% so far,” he added.
Wastewater treatment and the use of recycled water in agricultural and industrial sectors can help tackle the worsening water crisis in the drought-stricken South Khorasan.
The first phase of the wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 21,500 cubic meters per day was completed last year.
The project is financed by ECO Trade and Development Bank, a regional multilateral lender established under the auspices of the Economic Cooperation Organization.
South Khorasan’s dry climate and desert terrain make farming difficult but still 35% of the population rely on agriculture. Needless to say, drought has taken a heavy toll on the shrinking farming community, leaving in its trail a barren landscape and abandoned rural areas.
Approximately 7.5 billion cubic meters of usable water are produced annually, of which 4.3 bcm are wasted and less than 25% are recycled.
Almost 90% of the scarce water resources are gulped down by the water-intensive and poorly-managed farming sector.
While 48% of the treated wastewater are used in the farming sector, 45% enter surface waters, less than 0.5% is used by industries and 5% rrigate urban green spaces.
Of the 85 million population of Iran, about 30 million are covered by the national wastewater network.
There are 222 wastewater treatment plants in Iran and total sewage treatment capacity has surpassed 11 million cubic meters per day. Over 66,000 km of wastewater pipelines have been laid across the country and 300 cities are connected to the rapidly expanding system.
