About 50 million cubic meters of freshwater are produced via desalination in the Middle East. While the share of Persian Gulf is about 24%, most of which pertains to Arab littoral states, Iran’s share is very low, the infrastructure manager at the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) said.
“The highest volume of desalinated water is produced by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain in a descending order. Although Iran is the largest country along the Persian Gulf, it has the lowest desalination capacity, which is nearly 650,000 cubic meters per day,” Manijeh Gholamrezaei was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
“With the completion of ongoing projects, the figure is set to reach 2 million cubic meters per day, which will be still be very small compared to that of neighbors,” she added.
A total of 75 water desalination plants are operational in Iran, over 90% of which are based in Hormozgan, Bushehr, Sistan-Baluchestan and Khuzestan provinces that are located along the coastlines of the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman in the southern regions of Iran.
Based on the government's plan to boost water desalination capacity and the use of these facilities, about 1.4 mcm per day will be added to the capacity of the country's water desalination.
Major water supply projects will desalinate Persian Gulf waters to meet a part of the water needs of Hormozgan, Kerman and Yazd provinces.
To tackle the country’s water shortage, desalination has become an attractive method to supply water to households and industries.
Years of drought have left decision-makers with little option but to meet a bigger share of freshwater needs of the growing population with desalinated seawater.
Large- and medium-sized desalination plants are desirable in coastal regions where salty water resources are in abundance.
Experts believe Iran's fledgling desalination industry should meet the need for potable water in provinces located along the Persian Gulf coastline. As a result, tapping into the sea to produce clean water is high on the Energy Ministry’s agenda, as it is much more viable for maintaining a sustainable supply of water rather than depleting the fast-dwindling underground resources, most of which are on the verge of drying up.
Despite the fact that 75 plants are functioning in different parts of Iran, desalinated water comprises a meager 3% of the total volume of 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 about 160 million cubic meters are produced by desalination plants in coastal regions.
