Advanced knowhow for producing special water filters used in seawater desalination will be shared with Iran and assorted membrane filters required for water filtration systems will be manufactured in Ilam Province, the former Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Mohammad Shariatmadari said.
The Industrial Development and Renovation Organization signed a contract with China's ZSM Company on Thursday in Ilam based on which the Chinese side will transfer the technical knowhow of membrane production to IDRO and provide the country with desalination machinery and equipment, ILNA reported.
Under the contract, Iran will purchase high-tech reverse osmosis water desalination equipment and acquire the relevant expertise to open an industrial facility within two years in the western province at a cost of $8 million.
“Given the water shortages, we should be able to convert all types of saltwater into potable water and for industrial use,” Shariatmadari noted.
Selected countries possess advanced technology of producing membrane filters, he said. However, based on the contract, “Ghesha Gostar Dalahoo Company, a subsidiary of IDRO, will acquire the knowledge and the company will annually produce 50,000 membranes of different types.”
Membranes are microporous plastic films with specific pore size ratings. They act as a very specific filter that lets water flow through while it catches small particles, suspended solids and other substances.
At present, there are 73 desalination plants in different regions, including southern Hormozgan and northern Golestan provinces, with a capacity to process 420,000 cubic meters of saline water per day, and 148 million cubic meters per annum. Until 2021 Iran plans to reach daily desalination capacity of 600,000 cubic meters.
Iran has access to great bodies of water in north and south. Gilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan are located on the coast of the Caspian Sea in the north while Sistan and Baluchestan, Hormozgan, Bushehr, and Khuzestan provinces have coastlines off the Sea of Oman and Persian Gulf.
Currently, water desalination units provide a considerable amount of potable water in the northern and southern coastal areas.
Desalination refers to any of several processes that remove the excess salt and other minerals from water in order to get fresh water. Seawater or saltwater is desalinated to produce water suitable for human consumption, industrial use and farming.
Tapping into the sea to produce clean water is high on the agenda of policymakers in many water-deficit countries as it is a more viable option in maintaining a sustainable supply of water rather than depleting underground resources, most of which are on the verge of drying up.
According to officials in Tehran, 18 provinces covering nearly 60% of the population are on the verge of water tension and addressing the worsening water crisis has become a major preoccupation of environmentalists, academia, economists and policymakers.
