About 4,000 liters per second of treated wastewater in Isfahan Province are supplied to industrial and agricultural sectors, said the director of Wastewater Technical Studies and Investigations Office at Isfahan Water and Wastewater Company.
“Currently, 30 wastewater treatment plants are operational in Isfahan Province,” Saeed Shamsaei was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
“According to various contracts, 2,000 liters per second of treated wastewater are allocated to industrial units and 2,000 liters per second are delivered for watering green spaces and farming,” he added.
Shamsaei noted that the recovery and reuse of greywater is one of the sustainable solutions to reduce water consumption in homes, industries, commercial and office buildings, stressing that it can also be helpful in feeding aquifers.
Greywater or sullage is treated wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without fecal contamination.
The main difference between greywater and sewage (blackwater) is the organic loading. Sewage has a much larger organic loading compared to greywater. Greywater is captured from household sources like sinks, hand-basins and showers.
Greywater accounts for 60% of urban sewage in the province, a large proportion of which can be recycled.
Economic experts and environmentalists argue strongly against using high quality and costly potable water for purposes that do not require quality water, like farming.
Average daily water use of Isfahan households is 150 liters per person, but because the region is fighting against drought, consumption levels need to be reduced to 100 liters, the local water company has said.
The reuse of greywater is being increasingly practiced in many countries, namely the United States, Australia, Cyprus, the UK, Germany and Jordan.
Currently, 73.5% of the urban population in Isfahan Province are connected to the sewerage network.
Isfahan Water and Wastewater Company covers more than 3.2 million people in 36 cities of the central province and close to 6,000 people in rural areas.
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.
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 the need for using unconventional water resources.
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.
