The annual processing capacity of wastewater treatment plants in Iran has surpassed 2 billion cubic meters, up 50% compared to 2013, the head of Tehran Water and Wastewater Company's Department of Financial Affairs said.
“There are about 258 effluent processing facilities across the country, which treat 6 million cubic meters of wastewater per day, but regrettably the value of this resource is not appreciated in Iran,” Mina Rafati was also quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry’s news portal.
Close to 53% or 9 million water subscribers nationwide are linked to the sewage network, of whom 5.7 million are in the capital city of Tehran, she added.
The official noted that industries’ total annual demand for water is estimated to be about 1.3 bcm that can be met through treated wastewater.
In fact, the current processing capacity has helped reduce extraction from underground resources by as much as 1.5% or 1 bcm per year.
Referring to Tehran, she noted that six wastewater treatment plants are up and running in the province, producing 450,000 cubic meters of processed sewage a day, of which 30% are supplied to industries and the rest goes to waste as there are no buyers for the valuable commodity.
TWWC is able to deliver as much as 40 mcm of treated wastewater to the capital’s municipality per year, which will rise by at least 15 mcm annually.
Rafati said the output, which complies with environmental standards, is piped largely to southern Tehran for farming and industrial use, and is also suitable for watering green spaces.
Conserving Resources
Recalling that wastewater is playing an increasingly important role in conserving water resources in most countries, she said TWWC is ready to supply 110,000 cubic meters of wastewater to municipalities across the megacity per day.
Tehran’s wastewater treatment plants are in Shahrak-e-Gharb, Shahrak-e Mahallati, Ekbatan, Zargandeh, Qeytariyeh and Sahebqaraniyeh districts.
An estimated $2 billion have been spent on expanding wastewater infrastructure in the capital that has a population of 13 million.
To help reduce water use from depleting ground resources, as of March, Tehran Water and Wastewater Company will supply Tehran Municipality 40 million cubic meters of treated wastewater a year for parks and green spaces.
“TM uses 180 million cubic meters of water from depleting underground resources in the sprawling capital per year,” Rafati said.
“Tehran Municipality uses half a million cubic meters of water every day from underground tables that are on the verge of disappearing.”
TWWC and TM signed a contract last December, based on which the latter is obliged to use only recycled wastewater instead of the rapidly diminishing underground resources.
Unconventional Sources
As per the contract, TM is required to meet at least 60% of its daily need (500,000 cubic meters) from unconventional sources, namely reclaimed wastewater, she said.
The government plans to develop schemes aimed at curbing water wastage and overcoming water shortage that has exacerbated in the past 10 years.
Based on the figures, the total wastewater treatment capacity in 2013 amounted to 4 mcm/d with 150 treatment facilities.
With the establishment of 11,000 kilometers of network, this capacity has risen by 50%.
Currently, over 70,000 km of wastewater network are laid across the country. According to reports, over 295 cities in the country are now connected to the wastewater system.
Located in one of the world’s most water-stressed regions, Iran’s average precipitation rate has been lower than the global average for at least 10 years. Some experts and environmentalists denounce a widely-held notion that chronic water shortages can only be alleviated by higher precipitation.
Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, wastewater treatment and reclamation were virtually non-existent in Iran. Significant efforts were made in the 1990s to reverse the trend.
By 2001, there were 39 wastewater treatment plants with a total capacity of 712,000 cubic meters per day, which treated wastewater produced by a population of 3.8 million.
