A wastewater treatment plant in Dogonbadan, capital city of Gachsaran County in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad Province, was inaugurated by Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian on Wednesday.
The facility has the capacity to treat 12,500 cubic meters of effluent a day and cost $4 million, IRNA reported.
According to reports, the plant's construction began in 2003, but it was plagued by financial constraints and made 10% physical progress by the end of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second term in office in 2013.
Referring to the government’s water and wastewater measures in the southwest province, Chitchian said the ministry is taking steps to build four water and wastewater projects in the towns of Yasuj, Sisakht, Madavan Choram.
Mousa Khademi, governor general, who accompanied Chitchian at the inauguration ceremony, said the plant will help preserve the city’s underground water reserves and people’s health as well as optimize use of wastewater for agriculture.
The province's wastewater network stretches 46 kilometers. The wastewater plant in Dogonbadan will provide services to more than 130,000 households.
According to published reports, nearly 3,000 water and wastewater projects nationwide are incomplete due to a lack of funds. Officials say that power supply projects in rural areas alone need $3.3 billion for completion.
The new wastewater treatment projects are part of plans to preserve the rapidly dwindling water resources as massive amounts of water are exhausted every year due to unsustainable farming practices and lack of technology to recycle effluent for farming.
According to statistics, Iran’s water recycling in agriculture is below 50%. Almost 90% of the scarce water resources is consumed by the agriculture sector.
Iran is situated in an arid and semi-arid region and average precipitation rate has fallen to levels way below the global average while underground water resources are fast drying up.
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