Iran Desalination Capacity to Rise by 300,000 Cubic Meters Per Day by 2021

Sixty desalination plants with a capacity of over 242,000 cubic meters per day (88.4 mcm per year) are operating in different regions in Iran, The Energy Ministry news portal reported.

Construction of another 25 desalinating projects is underway, which upon completion by 2021 will add 300,000 cubic meters of water to daily output.

In line with the Energy Ministry's policies to provide safe drinking water in the southern regions, the plants, located in Fars, Sistan and Baluchestan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, Bushehr, Kerman, Khuzestan and Hormozgan provinces, will process saline water, remove the excess salt and other minerals, according to Financial Tribune.

To address the worsening water crisis, desalination is becoming a viable option in most countries to produce water from the sea. In the coastal regions where salt water is in abundance, large and semi-large desalination plants are preferred.

Tapping into the sea to produce clean water is on the Energy Ministry agenda as it is seen as viable for sustainable supplies rather than depleting the gradually drying underground tables.

Water desalination plants now provide significant volumes of potable water in the northern and southern coastal region in Iran.

6th Water Treatment Plant for Tehran

The sixth water treatment plant in Tehran will be operational by next March, the managing director of Tehran Regional Water Company said.

“It will provide water to the north, northwest and southwest flanks of the capital,” IRNA quoted Seyed Hassan Razavi as saying.

Water demand in these areas is met partly from groundwater sources and the launch of the new plant will help increase access to surface water, he said.

So far, $125 million has been invested on the plant and needs another $12.5 million for completion. When operational, the facility will supply three million people with fresh water.

The plant is designed to treat water flowing from Amir Kabir (Karaj) Dam, on the Karaj River, 63 km northwest of Tehran.

Five dams, namely Amir Kabir, Taleqan, Latian, Lar and Mamlou supply Tehran with potable water. 

Five treatment plants are now operating in the capital.  Dams provide 70% of Tehran’s water demand and the remaining 30% comes from underground resources.

Amir Kabir Dam has a capacity of 205 million cubic meters. With heavy rainfall since the beginning of the current water year in September, the dam now holds 160 mcm of water.