Tehran, Iran, September 26
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Germany’s Bohrlochmessung Storkow company is helping Iran with water management projects to fight groundwater pollution via the methodic digging of wells.
“We are in talks with Shiraz Water and Wastewater Companies where they want to dig new wells due to the problem of water levels,” project manager Lars Kuschel told Trend.
“Lots of wells in Iran are constructed without annular space sealing in which you disturb the normal layering. That causes the coupling of different aquifer waters. In large areas of Iran, you have a nitrate problem, as the wastewater management is not very good,” the geoscientist noted.
“Now, annual rain levels, the quality of rain, and discharge are the big problems. Also the lifetime of wells usually dug in Iran is short.”
Kuschel said that his company is now digging four wells for Tehran Water and Wastewater Company.
“It will take two months to construct these four wells. It took us two years to take it to the final stage. But now, the agreements have been made and the whole project is running,” he said.
Water and wastewater management in Iran has been suffering underdevelopment under sanctions that lasted until January 2016.
Iran mostly covers a dry land with little rainfall. The general drought has cut down on the country’s water resources over the past decades, leading to unscientific digging of wells by firms and individual people, with much damage to the groundwater quality.