Nearly $100 million are spent annually to utilize, maintain and upgrade water facilities in the capital city, said the CEO of Tehran's Water and Wastewater Company.
"Ground and underground waters cost $100 million per year to be treated, transferred, stored and supplied as drinking water," ISNA quoted Mohammad Parvaresh as saying.
According to the official, currently 1.35 billion cubic meters of water in Tehran are connected with water treatment facilities, underscoring the pivotal role of capacity management before water consumption hits peak demand.
He also mentioned that a consortium of several states is financing a number of sewage system improvement projects in Tehran, including an investment worth $220 million by China.
Islamic Development Bank plans to fund another project to the tune of $176 million.
"The project requires digging an underground sewage tunnel, the boring machine for which will be imported next month. The machine is the first of its kind to ever operate in the country," he said.
Taking stock of plans to build four other treatment plants worth $166 million, Parvaresh said Tehran's sewage system will be fully restructured within the next five year.
Nearly 3,000 water and wastewater projects nationwide are incomplete due to a lack of funds, according to energy officials.
In addition, a total of 121 water supply projects across the country require a minimum of $3.5 billion, which call for a greater private sector participation in national projects.
