The Iranian capital’s environmental authority says it will shut down 20 industrial units that failed to comply with regulations despite repeated warnings in the next two weeks.
Hossein Bazgir, director of the Tehran chapter of the Department of Environment, said on Thursday that his department will move to close down 10 carwashes and 10 electroplating factories.
“We warned them repeatedly to ensure their wastewater treatment facilities were up to standard, but they didn’t comply,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Environment and energy official in the sprawling metropolis, which is home to 12 million people, have made known their intention to treat wastewater in an effort to reduce water pollution and even reuse the treated wastewater to help combat water crisis.
Earlier this month, Tehran’s Water and Wastewater Company announced plans to launch six new wastewater treatment facilities in Tehran Province by January 2017.
Nearly $100 million are spent annually to utilize, maintain and upgrade water facilities in the capital city, while surface and groundwater cost $100 million per year to be treated, transferred, stored and supplied as drinking water.
Currently 1.35 billion cubic meters of water in Tehran are processed in water treatment facilities, underscoring the pivotal role of capacity management before water consumption hits peak demand.
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.
