Annual water loss in urban areas (25%) is of epic proportions, director of the Consumption Management Office at the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company said in Mashhad on Saturday.
“Every year 6.2 billion cubic meters of water is produced by NWWEC to meet the urban needs, of which a staggering 1.55 billion cubic meters is wasted,” Ali Seyedzadeh said in a meeting regarding water management in the capital of Khorasan Razavi Province.
A part of the wastage is due to seepage and the existence of old and eroding water pipelines, IRNA reported him as saying.
“The company seeks to reduce water loss, especially in the arid and semi-arid areas, to tackle wastage of dwindling water resources across the national supply system,” Seyedzadeh said.
Efforts are being made to reduce the loss of non-revenue water -- water that is pumped and then lost or unaccounted for before reaching consumers -- by modernizing the old supply networks with new technologies, modifying measurement techniques and increasing the accuracy of water meters, he added.
The average amount of water loss in developed countries is said to be 15% every year. Based on NWWEC programs, water wastage should be reduced by 0.5% to 1% a year.
Seyedzadeh noted that “15 trillion rials ($150 million) is needed to improve the water situation” and help reduce the impact of the worsening water crisis affecting the entire country.
Unsustainable Farming Practices
Located in one of the world's most water-stressed regions, Iran suffers from low rainfall and excessive consumption plus high levels of water loss because of aging supply infrastructure and outdated irrigation practices.
Average rainfall over the past few years was 250 millimeters that dwindled further to 230 mm last year.
Moreover, 170,000 illegal water wells have become one major problem for water authorities struggling to curb the high extraction and consumption rates, namely in key agricultural regions.
Despite the regular warnings, the excessive withdrawal of water from aquifers continues in the agriculture sector that is neither justified nor profitable.
About 90% of the water resources are used by unsustainable and wasteful farming practices that are making a bad situation worse. Experts and environmentalists have pleaded to the government to strictly oblige the farming community to move to “drip” irrigation that helps reduce water loss by up to 40%
About 90% of the country’s water resources are used by unsustainable and wasteful farming practices that are making a bad situation worse.
Experts have pleaded to the government to strictly oblige farmers to move to “drip” irrigation that helps reduce water loss by up to 40%.
It is often reported that the water scarcity will get much worse by 2025 when available renewable water will be less than 1,000 cubic meters per capita, down from 2,000 cubic meters in 1950.
Experts have warned that if water consumption patterns do not change in the near future, many parts of the country will turn into barren desert and entire towns and villages will be consigned to history.
18 Years of Drought
“Khorasan Razavi has suffered from drought for 18 years and should the current trend of consumption continue, next summer 32 cities in the province will definitely face water tension,” Seyedzadeh warned.
Mashhad is the second most populated city after Tehran with a population of 3.5 million. The northeastern city is home to the shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH), the eighth Imam of Shia Muslims and tourist attractions including museums and historical tombs of renowned literary figures.
Therefore, every year the city attracts over 30 million tourists and pilgrims, which is a real challenge for the provincial water authorities and other utility companies.
According to global standards, the limit for drawing water is 40% of renewable resources. In the province this level is breached by 51% for surface waters and 74% for ground water resources. Water consumption per capita is also twice the global standard.
