Water projects will supply potable water to remote rural areas in the capital, the managing director of Tehran Province Rural Water and Wastewater Company said.
“An estimated 146,000 people in the suburbs and villages are to have access to piped water,” the Energy Ministry news portal Paven quoted Reza Pourrajab as saying.
Digging and equipping 10 water wells, constructing 56 km of water supply lines, construction of water storage reservoirs with a capacity of 7,850 cubic meters, and construction of six pumping stations are among the projects, Financial Tribune reported.
Water projects are in expansion mode in the province due to higher level of water in dams surrounding the sprawling capital. Five dams supplying Tehran now have more water compared to the recent past.
Since the beginning of the current water year last September, Tehran received 371 millimeters of rain, which shows a 78% increase compared to the corresponding period last year.
Heavy rains since last autumn, which reached record levels in March and April, increased the water in dams to levels unseen in half a century.
Tehran dams have around 342 million cubic meters of water more than last year and almost 66 mcm more compared to the long-term average.
Furthermore, $4.4 million worth of power projects were launched in the province, managing director of Tehran Province Electric Energy Distribution Company said.
Reza Teymouri said work includes electricity supply to several regions, installing streetlights and power grid optimization.
“Last year, $25 million was spent on construction and expansion of electricity distribution networks – up 60% compared to the year before.”
Projects in Alborz
More than 20 water supply projects were inaugurated in Alborz Province, west of Tehran, managing director of Alborz Province Rural Water and Wastewater Company said.
Constructing 4.5 km of transmission lines and water storage tanks with a capacity of 500 cubic meters, laying 9km of distribution networks, building a wastewater treatment plant, and construction of wastewater network and sewage transmission lines are among the projects in Taleqan County, Abdolhossein Hassanzadeh noted.
Water projects were also launched in Eshtehard, Nazarabad and Savojbolagh counties.
According to data from Iran Water Resources Management Company, Alborz Province received 576 milliliters of rainfall from September 2018 to May 2019.
The volume is much higher compared to previous years due to the exceptionally high rainfall earlier in the year in almost all provinces after six decades.
A major part of water for Alborz comes from Amirkabir and Taleqan dams, which now have much better conditions compared to previous years.
Currently, 93% of Amirkabir Dam on the Karaj River is full, which is 4% higher than the same period last year.
According to official numbers, the amount of water stored in Iran’s 178 dams has grown by 60% since last year and reached 74.39 billion cubic meters. The dams are now 79% full.