As groundwater resources in Bandar Abbas, southern Hormozgan Province, are depleting, desalination capacity is expected to rise by 43,000 cubic meters per day by November, managing director of the Hormozgan Water and Wastewater Company said.
“There are 40 units in the region, which process 232,000 cubic meters of seawater per day, up 50% compared to 2013,” Amin Qasemi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
In 2013, only 15 units were operating with a daily capacity of 40,000 cubic meters, he added.
Qasemi noted that desalination projects are being developed in the region, which will increase the current capacity by 20% to reach 275,000 cubic meters in November.
Desalination plants in the province, which annually produce 95 mcm of potable water, meet 26% of the region’s demand. Wells and dams account for 74%.
“The desalination of each cubic meter of seawater ([1,000 liters] costs 75 cents,” he added.
To help address the water deficits where underground resources are drying up fast, producing water from saline water sources is unavoidable although the process produces large quantities of brine that is denser than seawater, sinks to the seabed and damages the marine ecosystem.
Villages in the area have been abandoned and expanding Bandar Abbas water desalination infrastructure can help curb migration and contribute to sustainable rural development in the dry regions.
Experts say the fledgling domestic desalination industry can and should meet the need for potable water in the Persian Gulf littoral provinces.
Tapping into the sea to produce clean water is high on the Energy Ministry agenda, as it is seen as more viable for maintaining sustainable supplies rather than depleting the fast-dwindling underground water tables, most of which are drying up.
Cost-Effective Technology
According to Misaq Molaei, an energy analyst, using nuclear reactors to operate seawater desalination plants can be cost-effective in areas straddling the southern coasts of Iran, as they meet most of their potable water demand from nearby provinces.
The cost of treating seawater using fossil fuels is about 75 cents for each cubic meter of water, while it stands at around 30 cents in nuclear desalination plants, he added.
Molaei noted that desalination units of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in the southern province have the capacity of desalinating 15,000 cubic meters of saline water per day.
The Bushehr plant is situated 17 km southeast of the city of Bushehr.
Iran has signed a $10 billion deal with Russia to build two new nuclear power plants in Bushehr.
“The desalination capacity, which meets 20% of Bushehr city’s water demand, can be boosted with the help of nuclear reactors,” he said.
“In addition to the high cost of processing seawater by fossil-fueled desalination plants, it damages the environment more than the nuclear plants, the output of which is more desirable both in terms of quality and quantity.”
Small- and medium-sized nuclear reactors are suitable for desalination, often with cogeneration of electricity using low-pressure steam from the turbine and hot seawater fed from the cooling system.
Several countries have started to use nuclear desalination plants, including India, Japan and Kazakhstan. The latter operated a 750-MW facility for over a quarter century, generating not only desalinated water, but processing heat and electricity as well.
Nuclear energy-powered water desalination is an effective and feasible technology.
More recently, Argentina, China and South Korea have developed small nuclear reactor designs to generate both electricity and freshwater.
Eighty plus desalination plants that process 350,000 cubic meters of saline water per day are operational across Iran.
Of the 71 plants, 54 are in the coastal areas of the south, namely Hormozgan, Bushehr and Sistan-Baluchestan provinces. The rest are in northern regions, including Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan.
Despite the fact that 76 plants are functioning in different parts of Iran, desalinated water comprises a meager 0.1% of the total annual water consumption while in some neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia, it is 70%.
Iran's annual water consumption is about 100 billion cubic meters, of which less than 100 million cubic meters are produced by desalination plants in coastal regions, namely Khuzestan, Hormozgan and Bushehr.
Approximately 142 million cubic meters of seawater are desalinated daily throughout the globe. However, Iran's share is as little as 407,000 cubic meters (per day).
