The second phase of Firouz Bahram Wastewater Treatment Plan in southwest Tehran is near completion and set to become operational in summer, head of the state-owned Tehran Province Water and Wastewater Company (Abfa) said.
“After the sludge treatment unit is in place odorless reclaimed wastewater will be used for farming mainly in in Baharestan, Robat Karim and Eslamshahr,” Mohammad Reza Bakhtiari said referring to the working districts of the fledgling capital, ISNA reported.
Completion of the sludge treatment facility will help seal at least 125 wells in the three counties, most of which are severely depleted.
The first phase of the project was launched in February after which Tehran Municipality was obliged to seal 50 wells in and around the metropolis used for green spaces.
“Firouz Bahram Wastewater Treatment Plant, the second largest wastewater treatment facility in Tehran after the South Wastewater Treatment Plant, has daily reclamation capacity of 190 million cubic meters, a part of which (60 mcm/d) will be sold to industries in Karaj, the central city of Alborz Province, and industrial towns in Fashafouyeh and Hassan Abad in Rey County.”
Sewage sludge is a solid, semisolid or slurry residual material produced as a by-product of wastewater treatment process, containing useful concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter.
“The inner coatings of pipes used in the new facility are covered with glassfiber reinforced plastic (an inherently resistant material to corrosion) that boosts usefulness of the pipes by at least for 50 years.”
Built over 60 hectares in Eslamshahr County in southwest Tehran, the plant was built by the Tehran Regional Water Company and will treat wastewater produced by 2.1 million people in 12 districts in the metropolis that continues to expand in all four directions. Home to 12 million people, the capital has 22 municipal districts.
Expansion of wastewater networks has become a priority in recent decades, but lack of funding plus rapid urban expansion has slowed the process.
“Expanding wastewater infrastructure in Tehran is high on the TPWWC agenda.” Bakhtiari, said, adding that pipe-laying operations have been completed in most districts.
According to long-term economic development plans, Tehran wastewater network should be completed by 2023.
Ageing Network
In related news, the Energy Ministry news website quoted Bakhtiari as saying that the water network in Tehran Province stretches over 10,000 kilometers, 40% of which is decrepit and must be replaced.
“Due to funding constraints, the company can lay nor more than 300 km of new pipelines a year. Rehabilitating the entire ageing and dilapidated network will take more than a decade.”
The widening gap between what consumers pay and the final cost of water treatment and supply has pushed Abfa into the red to the tune of $120 million so far, the company director complained.
“Treating and supplying one cubic meter of water costs 10 cents. Consumer are charged less than 3 cents,” he added echoing past warnings by economists and utilities that the energy subsidy policy of the government(s) is a major hurdle to sustainable development.
According to the Abfa chief, unlike other provinces where barely 6% of water resources are used by households, in Tehran it is above 40% largely because of population density (973 people per square kilometer).
He added between June and August 2020, daily water consumption in Tehran increased by 700,000 cubic meters to reach 4 million cubic meters.
