Tehran, Iran, December 8
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Iran continues to waste fresh water, as the country's industrial sector is using up two billion cubic meters per annum of fresh water, Iran's Deputy Minister of Energy Sattar Mahmoudi said.
Some 400 million cubic meters of that is used as coolant in power stations, the official said, Tasnim news agency reported December 8.
Suitable techniques can be adopted to reduce the amount of used fresh water, he said, adding that for example using of wastewater in a power plant in the city of Hamedan has lessened extraction of underground water by 55 percent.
Iran is situated in an arid area and faces severe shortage of water after years of scanty precipitation and unbridled consumption of ground and underground waters.
The agricultural and industrial sectors together are responsible for 94 percent of the water consumed in Iran.