Snow cover in the mountain basins has declined by a massive 69% compared to last year, a report issued by the Iran Water Management Company shows.
“Snow has covered almost 91,000 kilometers in Iran,” IRNA quoted Qasem Taqizadeh Khamesi, director of the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company of Iran (Abfa) as saying Monday.
When the snow melts, it will produce an estimated 500 million cubic meters of water, a large part of which is expected to be collected in dams, including those near the capital, Tehran.
“Snow covered nearly 154,000 kilometers in 2019,” he recalled.
According to the water company, when the snow (154,000 km) thawed in the last calendar year (ended in March), close to 1.5 billion cubic meters of water was added to dam reservoirs, but the figure will fall noticeably in 2020.
Referring to five dams supplying Tehran, he added that the huge structures can hold 1.9 billion cubic meters of water together, but they are now 46% full with 685 mcm of water.
Giving a breakdown, he said noted that Lar, Taleqan, Latian, Mamlou and Karaj currently hold 29 mcm, 310 mcm, 45 mcm, 174 mcm and 127 mcm of water respectively.
“Around 563 million cubic meters of water flowed into five dams in Tehran since the beginning of the current water year (started Sept 2019), indicating 14% decline compared to last year,” he asserted, recalling that the figure was 641cm in the previous year.
Following outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran in (announced on Feb 22), the need to adopt safety measures (20-second hand washing each time several times a day) has increased water consumption in Tehran by at least 13%, Mohammadreza Bakhtiari, the managing director of Tehran Province Water and Wastewater Company said.
Consumption Keeps Rising
“Water consumption in Tehran broke a record on March 19 and surpassed 3.5 million cubic meters, a figure unseen in decades even in the sweltering summer days when the mercury hovers around 48 degrees Celsius.”
Some people are oblivious to the fact that it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to maintain hygiene standards to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (and other illnesses) if the taps run dry.
Iran has confirmed more than 60,000 cases of known infections with at least 4,000 dead by Monday afternoon.
Bakhtiari warned that if consumption keeps rising, (water) paucity, reduction in water pressure and quality in homes will become a real and serious challenge in summertime.
All water treatment plants in Tehran are working round the clock at full capacity, but residents in some regions (especially southern areas) have faced difficulty regarding water pressure.
As consumption rises, the quality of water in taps will suffer, but there is a red line (nitrate level) that cannot be violated under any condition as it can endanger people’s life.
Dam water supply contains 10% nitrate which is acceptable for drinking. But deep well water contains 60% nitrate.
At present, Tehran’s drinking water is a mixture of water from dams and wells and the company tries not to exceed the permissible limit (50%). Too much nitrate in potable water is a risk to infants less than six months old.
Tehran water quality was better in the past due to greater use of surface water and dams than well water.
