70 Percent of Tehran Wastewater Untreated

More than 70% of Tehran’s wastewater are untreated, according to the head of Tehran’s office of the Department of Environment.

Under the wastewater network development project, 22 sewage treatment plants were supposed to be established in various parts of the Iranian capital to cover the needs of 11 million people (the estimated population of the city of Tehran by 2030).

However, only six plants have been constructed in the southern areas of the metropolis in addition to two low-capacity plants in Shahrak-e-Gharb (in the west) and Zargandeh (in the north) neighborhoods, ISNA quoted Mohammad Hossein Bazgir as saying.

Two of the six plants were inaugurated in February.

“The plants receive wastewater from 3.1 million residents and have the capacity to treat 8-10 cubic meters per second. They only treat 30% of the city’s wastewater,” he said.

Elaborating on the Tehran wastewater project—one of the city’s biggest projects that was kicked off four decades ago—the DOE official said the network is 60% complete.

“But with so many treatment plants still missing, it’s like there has been no progress at all,” he said.

Bazgir said it is high time the project “was prioritized by city officials”, adding that the rapid expansion of the city has made the development of Tehran’s wastewater network more difficult.

Reportedly, nearly 3,000 water and wastewater projects nationwide are incomplete due to a lack of funds.

In addition, 121 water supply projects across the country require a minimum of $3.5 billion, which call for greater private sector participation in national projects.