Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said that the country is suffering from water shortage, adding that if households consume 10 percent less water, the problem will be resolved.
Rouhani who was speaking on the sidelines of launching units 5 and 6 of the Tehran sewage treatment plant, stated that Iran suffered 20 percent reduction in water resources the current water year.
This year Iran is not going to have much water supplies, and our dams hold only 40 percent of their capacities, so people need to use water economically, he stated, the presidential website reported on March 14.
The president further noted that the government has started taking steps since a few months ago to prevent a water crisis in Tehran for the current water year.
Commenting on the sewage treatment facilities, he stated that 55 percent of the population of Tehran will use their services.
He noted that the facilities will be a great help to the environment and farmlands to the south of the city by providing water for the agriculture sector.
One of the outputs of the facilities will be manure, he said, adding that the plant will produce 100 metric tons of sludge per day to be used as agricultural fertilizers.
The Islamic Republic is located in an arid zone and the country faces a serious water shortage crisis. However, many experts believe that the current water shortage problem is a result of water resources mismanagement, rather than the drought.
Iran's total annual water consumption is approximately 93 billion cubic meters, out of which about 92 percent is used in agriculture (86 billion cubic meters), 6.6 percent in municipality (6.18 billion cubic meters), and 1.2 percent in industry (1.12 billion cubic meters), according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Up to 70 percent of water used in the agriculture sector is being wasted, Iranian officials say.