Azerbaijan, Baku, Sep.18/ Trend F.Karimov/
Low rain precipitation may change the quality of water in Tehran province, ILNA quoted the Tehran province's regional water company's managing director Khosro Erteqaii as saying.
If precipitations remain at the same level in the second half of the current Iranian year (staring September 23), we will have to change the combination of surface and underground water in Tehran for drinking purposes, he added.
Currently, potable water for Tehran is a combination of 75 per cent surface water and 25 per cent underground water, he noted.
The volume of water behind the dams in the province has decreased by 32 per cent, he noted.
In July, the deputy head of the Iranian office for water and sewer provision Hamidreza Tashii, said that in several Iranian cities the fresh water is supplied according to a schedule and rationing is being applied.
According to him, in some cities of the provinces of Gilan, Kerman and Hormozgan the water is supplied according to a schedule relating to the summer season.
In the case of irrational use of water, supplies on the schedule will be started in large cities such as Isfahan, Bandar Abbas and Yazd.
Iran is located in a arid zone and over the past 40 years the country has repeatedly faced drought. The droughts of 1992-2002 caused considerable damage to agriculture. Quotas for fresh water were applied in some cities including Tehran.
In April, the water shortage situation in Iran reached an alarming level, member of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Mohammad Hossein Shariatmadari said, Mehr reported.
He noted that it is "one of the biggest challenges" of the country, as every day the reduction of flowing water in Iran continues.
Water shortage has always been a pressing problem in Iran due to its arid and semi-arid climate and droughts.
As international sanctions clamp down on the country, this issue has gained increased importance.
In 2011 Iran started constructing 134 dams with more than 13 billion cubic meters of reservoir flood control capacity per year.