• Energy

    Central Plateau Industries Obliged to Utilize Reclaimed Wastewater by 2030

    Manufacturing enterprises will not be given the permit to develop their businesses in the region unless they can meet their water demand with the help of unconventional water resources, one of which is treated sewage

    Using treated wastewater in industries has the potential not only to ease stress on dwindling freshwater resources, but also to increase the availability of water for household and agricultural use, the energy minister said.

    “As per the directive issued by the Energy Ministry, it is obligatory for all industrial units located in drought-hit central plateau to use reclaimed wastewater [instead of potable water] in their production lines by 2023,” Ali Akbar Mehrabian was also quoted as saying by Mehr News agency.

    Tackling mounting water crisis in the drought-stricken central plateau stretching from Isfahan to Meymeh and further toward Kerman, Yazd and Kashan is a top priority of the ministry, he added.

    According to the official, manufacturing enterprises will not be given the permit to develop their businesses in the region unless they can meet their water demand with the help of unconventional water resources, one of which is treated sewage.

    “We are not averse to expanding industries as they can create jobs and help the economy thrive, but as long as their development is not sustainable and jeopardizes water resources, it will be a recipe for disaster,” he said.

    “Wastewater treatment is a vital process for many industries and companies must carry it out responsibly to help preserve water resources and keep the population safe.”

    The release of wastewater could do serious damage to local ecosystems and pose health risks to nearby residents. Effective, ethical wastewater treatment will help minimize those potential harms.

    Depending on the industry, industrial wastewater may contain any number of contaminants, including acids, additives, bleach, chlorine and heavy metals like arsenic and lead.

    Industrial manufacturing facilities like iron and steel plants generate wastewater through various processes. 

    Mehrabian said the production of iron from ores in blast furnaces requires large amounts of cooling water, which can become contaminated with waste products like ammonia and cyanide.

    Steel production processes also require water as a coolant and lubricant. 

    Water is one of the most important resources for promoting socioeconomic and industrial development. 

    “In arid and semiarid regions, water availability is even more remarkable since economic activities can be limited by this resource,” he added.

    For example, the kind of agriculture and industry depends directly on the availability of water. Hence, water management is essential at all stages, namely extraction, distribution, wastewater collection, treatment and use of treated wastewater.

     

     

    Lagging Behind 

    Qasem Taqizadeh Khamesi, director of the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company of Iran (Abfa), believes that water-intensive sectors like industries and agriculture are still lagging in terms of wastewater recycling and water reuse.

    “A massive 13 billion cubic meters of water are wasted annually in the agro sector due to outdated irrigation techniques. Industries are also unfamiliar with wastewater reclamation technologies,” he added.

    Wastewater is becoming more widely recognized as an asset to exploit rather than a liability to be treated and disposed of in the environment, but this is still not the case in Iran.

    “A huge amount of sewage goes to waste due to poor and underdeveloped wastewater treatment infrastructure. Moreover, farmers and industrialists have not felt the need to reuse water as an important opportunity not only to save depleting resources but also to develop a sustainable business,” Khamesi said.

    Although some initiatives have been taken in major cities like Isfahan, Tehran and Mahshahr, he noted that long-term goals in saving limited water resources are elusive.

    According to the Abfa official, Iran’s population of 82 million has grown by 2.5 times over the last 40 years, while renewable water resources show an appalling 30% decline during the period to reach 90 billion cubic meters.

    Renewable water resources are defined as the average manual flow of rivers and recharge of aquifers generated from precipitation.

    Khamesi noted that renewable resources were around 140 bcm in 1999 and rapidly declining ever since. It fell to 135 bcm, 130 bcm and 105 bcm in 2007, 2013 and 2017 respectively.

    Annual renewable water resources average 114 bcm, of which close to 70 bcm are exploitable while annual water consumption is north of 100 billion cubic meters.

     

     

    Shocking Deficit

    The shocking water deficit will not vanish unless the excessive withdrawal of water from aquifers in the agriculture sector ends. Illegal water wells, which have been dug in the tens of thousands in recent years across the country, must be sealed without fear or favor.

    Experts like Isa Kalantari, the former head of the Department of Environment, say the country’s water scarcity will hit crisis level by 2025, when available renewable water will be less than 1,000 cubic meters per capita, down from 2,000 cubic meters in 1950.

    The former DOE chief and economic experts have often warned about high consumption in the farming sector and said on record that water is being extracted much faster than it can be replenished. 

    They have also said large parts of the water-stressed country will turn into barren desert, if those in charge don’t change course and rewrite the centuries-old agricultural policies that are unsustainable.