To help alleviate water shortages in Hamedan Province, Hegmataneh Petrochemical Plant will use treated wastewater instead of water from dwindling underground aquifers, managing director of the provincial water company said.
“Close to 630 million cubic meters of processed wastewater will be delivered to the petrochemical plant annually,” Mansour Sotoudeh was quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry’s news portal.
The plant is slated to become operational in August, he added.
Before construction commenced in 2004, the company had obtained permits to drill two deep (water) wells. Nonetheless, over the last 16 years underground resources in the region have depleted to the extent that the wells cannot be used anymore and should be sealed.
“Tapping into unconventional sources is not an option but an obligation and we (Hamedan Regional Water Company) are ready to supply the plant with enough reclaimed wastewater.”
According to the official, an 11-km pipeline is being laid to transfer treated wastewater to the petrochemical plant.
Designed to produce medical-grade PVC, the factory will be the 57th petrochemical company in the country and the first of its kind to produce such PVC compounds.
Similar Moves
Highlighting similar moves to curtail groundwater use, Sotoudeh noted that recycled wastewater accounts for 85% of water used in Hamadan’s Shahid Mofateh Thermal Power Plant (SMTPP).
Elaborating on long-term plans to replace water taken from wells, lakes and rivers in power plants with reclaimed wastewater, he said, "As per a directive from the Energy Ministry, SMTPP stopped using well water in 2015 and it has been supplied with processed wastewater since then."
Hamedan Regional Water Company and Bakhtar Regional Electricity Company, a subsidiary of government-affiliated Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir), signed a $5 million contract in 2015 according to which the former receives 15 mcm of water a year.
"Like many other areas including Yazd and Isfahan, underground water tables are gradually disappearing in Hamedan and resorting to recycled sewage is the option for now."
UNESCO 2017 World Water Development Report says once treated, wastewater could be invaluable in meeting growing demand for agriculture and industries. Environmentalists of all stripes insist manufactures must use recycled water instead of the scarce and costly potable water.
Illegal Wells
According to Sotoudeh, of the 7,000 illegal wells in the province 4,000 have been sealed in the past five years.
“Sealing the wells saved 300 million cubic meters of water.”
The move has also helped maintain a semblance of stability in groundwater levels in the region that is falling sharply.
Almost 4,447 smart meters have been installed on authorized water wells in the northwestern province. The agriculture sector accounts for 74% of the digital meters.
Smart meters have also been installed in rural homes (10%), urban households (6%), industries (6%), livestock and poultry sector (3%) and miscellaneous (1%).
Installation of smart meters on wells helps control groundwater use and prevents overconsumption and waste, he asserted.
According to Energy Ministry reports, there are almost 470,000 legal and 320,000 illegal wells in Iran and as the going gets tough and options vanish, approximately 14,000 illegal wells are sealed each year.
Hamedan is a historic city and Iran’s fifth biggest grape producer after Fars, Qazvin, Khorasan Razavi and West Azarbaijan.
