Bandar Abbas Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Persian Gulf Supply and Development Company-- a subsidiary of the Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development & Renovation Organization (IMIDRO)-- signed a contract on Sunday as per which the former will supply the latter an estimated 110,000 cubic meters of recycled water a day.
Amin Qasmi, managing director of Hormozgan Water and Wastewater Company and Shahrouz Shojaee, head of PGSDC, signed the agreement, IRNA reported.
PGSDC is a consortium of water-intensive industries in the Persian Gulf Special Economic Zone in the province, some of which are Hormozgan, Maad Koush, Kaveh and Saba steel companies, Almahdi Aluminum complex as well as Bandar Abbas Oil Refinery.
“As per the deal, the wastewater company is expected to meet half of PGSDC’s daily need for recycled sewage at around 220,000 cubic meters,” Qasmi said, and added that as there were no buyers for the recycled wastewater in the past, it was poured in the sea causing ecological problems.
As part of the deal, PGSDC will help upgrade machinery and equipment in Bandar Abbas Wastewater Treatment Plant for two years, he added.
“Thanks to the move, no more wastewater will be dumped in the sea (Persian Gulf). Furthermore, it is another source of income for the treatment plant.”
The discharge of treated effluent in water bodies does not only result in eutrophication and human health risks, it also contributes horribly to greenhouse gas emissions in the form of nitrous oxide and methane.
Located in the west of the port city of Bandar Abbas, the economic zone boasts massive reserves of oil and gas, proximity to iron ore mines as raw material for steel industries and easy access to the open seas. It also has the advantage of special economic zones eligible for tax holidays and customs exemptions.
Hormozgan has a population of 1.6 million and 1.1 million are covered by services of the provincial water company.
Municipal Effluent
In related news, IRNA qouted Mohammad Javad Ashrafi, head of Khuzestan Province branch of Department of Environment as saying that close to 80,000 cubic meters of industrial and municipal effluent flows into the world famous Karoun River in Ahvaz every day.
“The Ahvaz East Wastewater Treatment Plant (daily capacity 112,000 cubic meters) was launched in 2018. But due to the incomplete wastewater infrastructure (sewage collection network) in the region, barely 20,000 cubic meters of effluent is recycled at the facility.”
Ahvaz is divided into east and west via the Karoun River that provides water for farming and industries.
On a yearly basis, 100,000 cubic meters of wastewater is produced in the eastern flank of the key oil city, of which only 20% is recycled and the rest discharged into the river. The stench has made life miserable for residents in and around the city, he added.
Funds for completing the network in the eastern part of the city ($56 million) has been made available through the National Development Fund of Iran, the sovereign wealth fund.
Work on sewage collection is underway and is scheduled to be connected to the Ahvaz East Wastewater Treatment Plant in September.
Completion of the project will revive 7,000 hectares of farmland in Ahvaz. In addition to meeting a part of the water demand of households, farming and industries, treatment plants help preserve the environment.
With a population of about 1.4 million, there is only one wastewater treatment facility in west Ahvaz that barely recycles 30,000 cubic meter a day.
