Bushehr Water and Wastewater Company is constructing several desalination plants across the southern province with a total capacity of 100,000 cubic meters per day, which are expected to gradually come on stream by 2023, managing director of the company said.
“Currently, 10% of the drinking water required in Bushehr Province are supplied by desalination plants. The figure is predicted to increase by more than 30% when the projects are completed,” Nematollah Torki was also quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry’s news portal Paven.
Elaborating on some of the projects, Torki said the desalination plant on Shif Island will be launched next month and the first phase of a plant in Bushehr County with a capacity of 17,000 cubic meters per day will come on stream by March 2022.
Regarding a 35,000-cubic-meter desalination plant in Bushehr, the official said the project has now registered 73% progress and is expected to become operational in the first half of next fiscal year.
Located in southwestern Iran, the arid province is one of the most water-stressed regions. The conditions in the province are so bad that water authorities have to dispatch water tankers to several areas (especially in summer).
Bushehr is located along the Persian Gulf coastline. However, due to lack of desalination plants, 65% of Bushehr’s water are supplied by neighboring provinces, such as Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad, through rusty pipes laid 25 years ago, because of which around 40% of water are wasted.
Some regions in the province get less than 50 mm of rainfall per year. Groundwater overdraft, more than 80% of which are used in the agricultural sector, adds to the steep decline in groundwater levels.
Desalination plants supply 10% of the drinking water required in Bushehr Province and it is predicted to rise by over 30% when the ongoing projects are completed
The agricultural, industrial and household sectors in the province are supplied with at least 800 million cubic meters of water per annum, of which 700 mcm are used for farming.
Water is supplied from surface, groundwater and desalination sources. The main agricultural products in the province include wheat, barley, onions, sesame, tomatoes, eggplants, lemons and dates.
Known as an industrial region, Bushehr is home to major refineries and power plants. The giant South Pars Gas Field is located in the province’s Asalouyeh County.
Iran’s sole nuclear power plant is also located in this province. The water needed for the nuclear facility is supplied from the Persian Gulf, which is not included in data provided by the provincial water company.
Conventional water resources such as rainwater or river runoff are not adequate to meet growing demand. Therefore, as groundwater resources are drying up, the rise in desalination capacity will help address the water shortage in the southern province.
At present, three desalination units with a capacity of processing 35,000 cubic meters of saline water per day are active there.
Saline water processing capacity has increased by 25,000 cm/d (from 10,000 cm/d in 2017 to 35,000 cm/d at present) in the region in the last three years.
To tackle the water crisis, desalination has emerged as a solution in many countries. In the coastal regions where saltwater resources are in abundance, large and semi-large desalination facilities are being built.
In Iran, too, tapping into the sea is on the Energy Ministry’s agenda because it is more viable for maintaining a sustainable supply rather than depleting the fast dwindling underground resources, most of which are on the verge of disappearing.
According to reports, the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company of Iran is completing several desalination units in southern areas.
Iran’s northern and southern provinces have 2,700 kilometers of marine borders, which give them huge potential for expanding desalination. Investment in desalination infrastructure will create jobs and help curtail water withdrawal from depleting underground resources.
