A sewage collection project in the city of Kut-e Abdollah, Karoun County, Khuzestan Province, has made 50% progress and is expected to become operational by the end of 2023, managing director of Khuzestan Water and Wastewater Company said.
“The project, including pipe-laying operations and installation of high-pressure pumps are making rapid progress and will go on stream on time if it is not hindered by financial constraints,” Mohammad Reza Karaminejad was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
Close to 80,000 cubic meters of industrial and municipal effluents flow into the world-famous Karoun River in Ahvaz annually, he added.
“The Ahvaz East Wastewater Treatment Plant [with a daily capacity of 112,000 cubic meters] was launched in 2018 but due to the incomplete wastewater infrastructure in the region, as little as 20,000 cubic meters of effluent are recycled at the facility per day,” he said.
Ahvaz is divided into eastern and western parts by the Karoun River that provides water for farming and industries.
The official noted that annually, 100,000 cubic meters of wastewater are produced in the eastern flank of the key oil city, of which only 20% are recycled and the rest is discharged into the river and the stench has made life miserable for residents in and around the city.
“Funding to complete the network in the eastern part of the city [$56 million] has been extended by the National Development Fund of Iran, the sovereign wealth fund,” he said.
According to Karaminejad, work on the sewage collection network is underway, which will be completed and connected to the Ahvaz East Wastewater Treatment Plant in September.
The project will revive 7,000 hectares of farmland in Ahvaz.
Treatment Plants
In addition to meeting a part of the water requirement for farming and industries, treatment plants help preserve the environment.
Collecting and treating wastewater are essential to protecting the environment, otherwise it will contaminate groundwater.
“While the country grapples with a worsening water crisis, less than 25% of the wastewater are recycled due to poor infrastructure,” he said.
“In 2016, the construction of six wastewater treatment plants in Khorramshahr, Abadan, Shadegan, Bandar Imam Khomeini and Mahshahr [all in Khuzestan Province] started,” he said.
The first phase of the wastewater treatment plant in Shadegan County has the capacity to treat 20,000 cubic meters of effluent per day. It will help preserve the city’s groundwater resources and optimize wastewater for agriculture, as reclaimed wastewater is suitable for farming.
The plant’s development plan will start soon and upon the completion of its second phase, the facility’s processing capacity will reach 26,000 cubic meters per day.
