Tehran Water Project to Be Completed in 4 Years

A major water supply project in the city of Tehran, dubbed as Tehran Water Ring, will go on stream in four years, the managing director of Tehran Province Water and Wastewater Company said on Tuesday.

“The mega project has made 75% progress and is planned to be launched in four years,” Mohammad Parvaresh was also quoted as saying by IRNA on the sidelines of the 23rd Press Exhibition in Tehran.

Work on Tehran Water Ring commenced in mid-2015 in what is planned to extend into 180 kilometers of pipeline connecting seven water treatment facilities and ensure stable water quality and supply in the sprawling capital.

However, the project faces operational hurdles, notably the difficulty in digging in the capital's tangled network of wells, pipes and tunnels.

According to Parvaresh, upon the plan's completion, if any of the water treatment plants would stop working, other plants will replace it in the water supply system.

In the face of persistently low precipitation in the past 15 years, experts have called for greater focus on collecting, treating and reusing water for drinking and farming.

Data show an average rainfall of 241 millimeters in the previous Iranian water year that ended in September. Though better than two water years ago, precipitation in the previous water year declined 2% compared to the long-term average.

“Tehran Water Ring will save about 750 million cubic meters per annum, 400 mcm of which are to be injected into the underground water reserves, 300 mcm will be allocated for agricultural purposes and the rest is planned to be used in urban green spaces,” he said.

Mohammad Hossein Bazgir, the head of Tehran’s office of the Department of Environment, told ISNA in late April that more than 70% of Tehran’s wastewater are untreated.

Parvaresh said the project was started from Tehran’s vulnerable southern districts and is to be completed in the north.  The TPWWC chief also referred to the state-owned company’s another plan aimed at enhancing the quality of potable water in several areas of the capital.