The project to treat and reuse the wastewater of Ilam Gas Refining Company in Ilam Province has been launched, the managing director of the refinery said.
“With the launch of the project, 400,000 liters per day of reclaimed water from the refinery's wastewater treatment plant will be used for green spaces and the firefighting network,” Ruhollah Nourian was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news service.
“This will help reduce the consumption of the same volume of water [400,000 liters per day] from groundwater resources,” he added.
Nourian noted that the project was completed in five months to address the water tension and preserve the existing water resources of the region.
“In addition to reducing water consumption, the project will help prevent industrial effluents from entering rivers and groundwater resources,” he said.
Wastewater is playing an increasingly important role in conserving water resources in most countries.
The insufficient treatment of wastewater and fecal sludge spreads disease and is a driver of antimicrobial resistance. Demand for wastewater as a reliable source of water and nutrients for agriculture is growing in response to population growth, urbanization, increasing water scarcity and the effects of climate change.
Safe sanitation systems are critical to protect public health. WHO is leading efforts to monitor the global spread of sanitation-related diseases and access to safely managed sanitation and wastewater treatment, as well as factors that enable or hinder progress under the sustainable development agenda.
Data released by the Energy Ministry indicate that the water crisis threatens about 200 cities and towns in Iran, that is why tapping into non-conventional resources has become necessary to help reduce the gap between water supply and demand.
Close to 4.3 billion cubic meters of effluent are produced in the country annually, of which less than 1 bcm is treated and the rest goes to waste (either channeled into rivers or penetrates into the ground) because of the lack of wastewater infrastructure.
Communities near municipal sewage outflows or contaminated water sources (mostly suburban areas) are at the highest risk of illness due to increased microbial pathogens and deteriorating physico-chemical parameters.
Wastewater reuse has become an integral part of water demand management, promoting protection of high quality freshwater and reducing environmental pollution.
Raising Output
Ilam Gas Refinery is the only supplier of gas in western Iran and provides feedstock to Ilam Petrochemical Company.
Annually, 130,000 tons of ethane, 230,000 tons of liquefied natural gas, 70,000 tons of sulfur and 1,350,000 barrels of gas condensate are produced in the complex.
Programs are underway to increase the output of all products at the refinery by 2025.
The construction of the second phase of the refinery is expected to begin soon to help increase feedstock from the current 6.8 million cubic meters to 10.2 mcm for increasing the production of various byproducts.
With the completion of the development project, the refinery's products, including natural gas for urban and industrial use, sulfur, ethane, gas condensate and liquefied petroleum gas, will increase by 1.5 times.
The production and sales of the five main products of Ilam Gas Refinery in the western Ilam Province, namely methane, ethane, LPG, sulfur and gas condensates, increased by about 86% in the last Iranian year (March 2021-22), compared to the year before.
The sulfur produced in the refinery with a purity of 99.98% is one of the purest and highest quality sulfur produced in the country. The refinery produced 60,000 tons of sulfur last year, half of which was used by local industries and 30,000 tons were exported.
Ethane and over 1.3 million barrels of gas condensate produced by the refinery were supplied to Ilam Petrochemical Complex last year.
Ilam Gas Refinery injected 1.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas into the national grid last year.
