Several wastewater treatment plants are under construction in Yazd Province and the sewerage system in the central desert province is being expanded so that upon the completion of those projects, 43% of the urban population in Yazd will be connected to the wastewater network.
The treated wastewater is of high quality and suitable for consumption in a wide range of industries and production units as well as farmlands, director of environment and water resources quality at Yazd Regional Water Company said.
“Years of drought, together with over-extraction from groundwater resources, have significantly reduced the level of water in the underground reservoirs and also negatively affected its quality. This is while the treated wastewater is always available and its quality is almost constant,” Nahid Gholamnejad was also quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry’s news portal Paven.
More than 90% of active tile factories in Yazd use treated wastewater in their production line and hopefully the same will happen in other industries of the province.
Located in central Iran where two deserts Dasht-e- Kavir and Dasht-e-Lut meet, Yazd has a dry and arid climate and suffers near permanent drought.
Yazd has a population of 1.13 million, 15% of which live in rural areas. This ancient land is one of Iran's centers for textiles and well-known for factories making ceramics and construction materials.
It is also known for its poor precipitation, near permanent shortage of water and how for centuries its hardworking people have toiled to survive and make do with very limited water resources.
The declining pattern of groundwater levels in many regions has long been a serious cause of concern. On average, 1 billion cubic meters of water are extracted from groundwater sources in the arid Yazd Province every year, resulting in severe water deficits in most plains as underground water levels keep declining by 45 centimeters a year.
Most of the water is used in the agro sector. Yazd Regional Water Company has taken measures to contain the worsening water crisis by installing smart meters for water wells, restricting cultivation of water-intensive crops, improving farming methods, promoting drip irrigation and sealing illegal wells.
Groundwater overdraft can lead to the destruction of vegetation, increase dust storms, create sinkholes in the plains, increase salt content in groundwater and worsen land subsidence.
Isfahan Sewerage System
In related news, Paven reported that Isfahan Province has more than 40 wastewater treatment plants with a total capacity of about 195 million cubic meters per year.
With the help of the ongoing projects, the wastewater treatment capacity will increase to over 270 mcm per year in the coming years.
After Yazd, Isfahan is the second biggest industrial hub in the country, as 70% of Iran’s steel are manufactured in this province, which explains why unconventional water resources have become a pressing necessity.
In order to solve the water issues of the industrial sector in the province, treated wastewater has been allocated to major industries such as Isfahan Refinery, Shahid Montazeri Power Plant and many other industrial towns.
Treated wastewater has also helped municipalities, as they face challenges in maintaining urban green space. In this regard, Isfahan Regional Water Company has taken measures to resolve the problem by supplying wastewater to various municipalities.
Due to the existence of dust storm in the northern region of the central province and the need to address them, the regional water company has allocated 200 liters per second of treated wastewater for desert greening. The effluent is transferred to the region via a 30-km canal.
Desert greening is the process of manmade reclamation of deserts for ecological reasons (biodiversity), farming and forestry, but also for reclamation of natural water systems and other ecological systems that support life. Desert greening has the potential to help solve global water, energy and food crises.
Currently, 73.5% of the urban population in Isfahan Province are connected to the sewerage system. More than 3.2 million people in 36 cities of the central province and close to 6,000 people in rural areas are linked to the wastewater collection network.
With over 8,300 km of wastewater collection network, Isfahan Province accounts for nearly 13% of the total sewerage system in the country.
Over 172 million cubic meters of sewage are recycled in Isfahan Province every year. Of the total annual recycled water in the province, 60% or 100 mcm are used for farming and the rest for industries, green space, maintaining watersheds and anti-desertification programs.
Over 7.5 billion cubic meters of usable water are annually produced in the country, of which 4.3 bcm are wasted. Less than 25% of wastewater are recycled, which deserves the attention of those in charge.
