The construction of the second phase of Tabriz wastewater treatment plant is expected to the completed by June, the governor general of East Azarbaijan Province said.
“Upon the launch of the project, a part of the treated effluent will be transferred to Lake Urmia, the agricultural sector and Tabriz Petrochemical Company,” Abedin Khorram was also reported as saying by Mehr News Agency.
A total of $10 million are to be spent on the project, which will help raise the inflow of treated wastewater to the troubled Lake Urmia by 150%.
The new phase will increase the current water flow to the lake to 4 cubic meters per second, or 125 million cubic meters a year.
The second phase of the development project is expected to increase the current capacity of the wastewater treatment plant [130,000 cubic meters per day] to 207,000 cubic meters per day, a large part of which will be diverted to the lake.
Instead of the conventional activated sludge process, the plant is equipped with step-feed aeration system in which primary effluent enters the aeration tank at several points along the length of the tank, rather than at the beginning or head of the tank.
Tabriz is a big city, with a population of 1.6 million, and produces a huge amount of wastewater, the treatment of which could feed the lake despite its long distance from the lake. Close to 70% of Tabriz's urban areas are connected to the wastewater system.
Seven wastewater processing units are in varying stages of construction in the province and after completion will significantly raise the effluent processing capacity.
Developing wastewater facilities are in line with the guidelines of Lake Urmia Restoration Project that has tasked towns and cities in the vicinity of Lake Urmia’s catchment area to treat their wastewater and direct it toward the lake.
An estimated 60 million cubic meters of reclaimed wastewater enter Lake Urmia every year, part of which is from treatment plants in Naqadeh, Urmia, Mahabad, Miandoab, Salmas and Boukan in the northwestern province.
Transfer to Petrochemical Complex
A part of the effluent of Tabriz wastewater treatment plant is to be transferred to Tabriz Petrochemical Company.
The project to transfer recycled sewage to TPCO is to help reduce the mounting pressure on drinking water resources in Tabriz and sustain water transfer to the petrochemical complex in the provincial capital.
The petrochemical plant now uses water from the Zarrineh River that starts in the Zagros Mountains in Kurdestan Province, passes through West Azarbaijan Province and flows into the famous Lake Urmia.
When the project is complete, the petrochemical facility will be cut off from the river and only use treated wastewater. Based on the plans, 5 million cubic meters per year of effluent from the treatment plant will be sold to the petrochemical company.
Located in East Azarbaijan in the northwest, TPCO annually produces 840,000 tons of goods, namely raw polymers, polyethylene, polystyrene and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene.
Almost 40% of the plant's output are sold domestically and the rest is exported to clients in Asia and Europe. It is built on 380 hectares and its main feedstock and raw materials include naphtha, LPG, mineral oil and other chemicals provided by Tabriz and Tehran refineries, as well as petrochemical companies in south Iran.
Replacing water with treated wastewater is among measures taken by the company to do its fair share in protecting the environment and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
