Wastewater Plant Inaugurated in Mashhad

Iran’s largest wastewater treatment plant was inaugurated by President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday in the city of Mashhad, the provincial capital of Khorasan Razavi.

According to IRNA, Khin-e-Arab Wastewater Treatment Plant, which employs the so-called SBR (sequential batch reactor) technology, has a total processing capacity of 211,000 cubic meters of effluent per day, covering Mashhad’s central area.

It was built at a cost of $33 million. 

SBR is a type of activated sludge process for the treatment of wastewater. The treated effluent can be suitable for discharge to surface waters or possibly for use on land.

SBR system treats a wide range of influent volumes whereas the conventional system is based upon a fixed flow rate.

Seyyed Alireza Tabatabaei, managing director of Mashhad Water and Wastewater Company, said that the project’s first phase, which has become operational, processes 83,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day.

“With the launch of the first phase of Khin-e Arab plant, Mashhad’s total wastewater treatment capacity has increased to 263,000 cubic meters a day,” Tabatabaei noted.

Stressing that the plan conforms to the highest environmental standards, the official said purified water of the plant will be used to irrigate 2,200 hectares of agricultural land around the city.

According to officials, the complex would help alleviate excessive drawing of underground waters for agriculture and will also produce fertilizers.

   Ardak-Mashhad Water Transfer

As part of his visit to Mashhad this week, Rouhani also inaugurated a water supply plan from Ardak Dam in northwest of Mashhad to the holy city that aims to deliver and treat 16.6 million cubic meters of water annually to supply a portion of the demand for drinking water and for industrial purposes.

The dam is connected to a water treatment plant through a 57-km pipeline. The project was in the works for a decade.

On the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony, Rouhani noted that environmental threats and the water crisis are the most important problems the country is facing. Modern water distribution methods and management of wastewater are among plans that must be implemented to preserve underground water reserves, he said. 

The president said his administration has four priorities, namely developing water, wastewater, environmental and railroad sectors.