Sewage Plants Output at 1.2bcm

Based on the latest figures, 184 wastewater treatment plants are currently operational across Iran with an annual output of about 1.2 billion cubic meters of processed wastewater, said a senior authority at the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company.

According to Bahman Valiki, director of a specialized department to enhance wastewater networks at NWWEC, 295 cities in the country are equipped with wastewater systems.  

"Out of the total urban population in the country, 47.6% have been connected to the wastewater networks," Zist Online quoted the official as saying. However, the existing treatment plants are able to treat the sewage generated by 18.5 million people that accounts for 31% to 32% of the country's urban population.

"This means that the expansion of wastewater treatment plants throughout the country is far behind that of wastewater networks," he said.

  Rural Areas Lagging Behind

Besides, the figures pertain mostly to cities, for wastewater treatment facilities in rural areas are rather underdeveloped.

"Development of sewage systems started in villages long after in cities. That is why less than 0.5% of Iran's rural population are linked to wastewater network," Vakili added.  

Authorities are making efforts to expand the system as much as possible to take a step toward achieving water management objectives. According to Vakili, the treated sewage mostly goes to agriculture (about 57%), and the rest is consumed in industrial activities, irrigation of urban green space and replenishment of surface waters and groundwater resources.

An average 70% of water consumed in households turns into sewage.

Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, wastewater treatment and reclamation was virtually non-existent in Iran. Significant efforts were made in the 1990's, and by 2001, there were 39 wastewater treatment plants with a total capacity of 712,000 cm per day, treating the wastewater produced by a population of 3.8 million.

The wastewater actually treated was around 130mcm per year. Seventy nine treatment plants with a total capacity of 1.917mcm per day were under construction and 112 treatment plants with a total capacity of 1.590mcm per day were being studied for completion by the year 2010.