As per the Sixth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2017-22), 30% of potable water in northern and southern coastal regions in Iran should be supplied by desalination units, a deputy at the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company said.
“So far 62 desalination units with a total capacity to produce 420,000 cubic meters of fresh water per day are operating. Another 25 are under construction with a capacity of over 236,000 cubic meters a day,” ISNA quoted Shahin Pakrouh as saying.
Comprehensive studies have been conducted to help meet the needs of people living along the 100km border in Sistan and Baluchestan, Hormozgan, Khuzestan and Bushehr provinces entirely with seawater, he said.
Although Iran is located in an arid and semi-arid area, access to vast resources of saltwater in the north (Caspian Sea) and south (Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf) offers is seen as potential plus points. By desalinating saline water a large amount of water for farming and industrial use can be produced.
Two decades of drought is taking a toll on Iran’s fast- depleting water resources. To tackle the critical water crisis, desalination is becoming a viable option in most countries to produce water from the sea. In coastal regions where saltwater is in abundance large and semi-large desalination plants are preferred.
Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian is of the opinion that Iran's fledgling desalination industry can and should meet the need for potable water in the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea provinces. Water desalination centers provide significant volumes of potable water in the northern and southern regions.
As a result, tapping into the sea for clean water is on the Energy Ministry agenda as it is seen as viable for sustainable supplies rather than depleting the dwindling underground tables, most of which are on the verge of drying up.
Caspian Littoral States
Last year, President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran has enough reserves of water in both the north and south of the country, which should be exploited.
“We should provide water for the people. Iran doesn’t have a water problem. The problem is with planning. We have water in the north and south. How is it that all Persian Gulf states use this water and we do not?”
The majority of the world’s desalination plants are located in the Middle East and their numbers are likely to multiply given the region’s upsurge in water consumption and the worsening water shortages.
Persian Gulf Arab states’ demand for desalinating water has increased at a rate of 9-11% in recent years, according to Frost & Sullivan, a business consulting firm involved in market research and analysis, growth strategy consulting, and corporate training across multiple industries.
Of the global desalinated water production of over 95 million?cubic meters per day, more than 22 million mcm is produced by countries with access to the Persian Gulf. However, Iran has a meager share of 200,000 cubic meters.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain meet a large part of their needs for drinking water from the strategic Persian Gulf waterway.
Regarding the Caspian Sea, Rouhani said that Iran should use it like other littoral states. “While others are making use of the Caspian Sea water, we are simply lingering around watching them.”
The Caspian littoral states are creating a large amount of pollution and even layers of oil are sometimes seen near Iranian coasts, he regretted, adding that Iran is not using the water resource for slightest excuses that are wrong and baseless.
