Pipe-laying operations have been undertaken in most districts of the rapidly expanding capital to connect households, businesses and industrial sectors to the wastewater network.
“While laying sewer pipes shows progress of 75%, only 40% progress has been made regarding the construction of wastewater treatment plants,” the Energy Ministry news portal quoted Mohammadreza Bakhtiari as saying.
Of the 9,000km wastewater network designed for the capital, 6,750 km are in place, according to Financial Tribune.
“We are working on the Firooz Bahram Wastewater Treatment Plant in the west, which is the second largest in the country after the South Wastewater Treatment Plant,” he added.
Firooz Bahram plant is set to come online by 2021 and will be used by 2.8 million people.
Expansion of the South Wastewater Treatment Plant will start by November, the official said.
Six units of the plant are now up and running and plans call for building two more units.
“Completing the Tehran sewage network and the treatment plants requires $1.6 billion,” Bakhtiari was quoted as saying.
There are six wastewater treatment plants in Tehran providing water for agricultural and industrial needs.
According to long-term development programs, Tehran wastewater network should be completed by 2023. Upon completion, 250 million cubic meters of recycled water will be added annually to the water reserves for use in farms and industrial units.
Given years of dwindling rainfall and rising consumption, conservationists and experts have called for more attention to collecting, treating and recycling water.
Expansion of wastewater networks has become a major priority in recent decades, but lack of funding plus rapid urban expansion has visibly slowed the process.
Indigenizing Equipment
With help from knowledge-based companies and domestic manufactures, a part of the equipment for the South Wastewater Treatment Plant of Tehran has been indigenized.
According to plans, nearly 65% of the total 15,000 equipment and parts used in the plant should be manufactured inside the country by 2024.
South Wastewater Treatment Plant in the ancient city of Rey is the biggest of its kind in the country.
The six operating units now cover 3.15 million and treat 246 million cubic meters of wastewater per annum.
Upon completion of two more units, the plant will offer service to 4.2 million people.
A total of 220 wastewater treatment plants are operating across Iran and total sewage treatment capacity has reached 11 million cubic meters per day.
An additional 32 plants are in different stages of construction and should come on stream by 2021.
Over 7.5 billion cubic meters of usable water is annually produced, of which 4.3 bcm is wasted. However, less than 25% of wastewater is recycled – a situation that demands focus and responsibility from those in charge of water affairs.