“In one of the most important projects of MSC in energy and fluid fields, we will complete the municipal wastewater treatment cycle and recycle the water,” announced Hamid Reza Khosravanipour, the director of energy and fluid projects of MSC in an interview with Foolad. “This not only contributes to improvement of environmental standards and public health in the region and protection of groundwater resources, but also reserves the company’s position on the optimal use of water resources and implementation of environmental projects in comparison with other Iranian steelmakers. Subsequently, 90% of our required industrial water can be generated from wastewater.”
“Drought and water stress are of the most important challenges of the country at present,” he continued. “In this regard, the honorable Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade of the 13th administration has emphasized on reducing water consumption of industrial complexes in a meeting with department officials.”
“MSC started generating industrial water from municipal water as the first Iranian company to do so three decades ago,” the director of energy and fluid projects added. “As part of our social responsibilities, Mobarakeh’s main approach is to strive to reduce the destructive environmental effects of sewage disposal resulting from the lack of sewage disposal network in surrounding cities and pollution of aquifers, as well as solving health problems of local people,” he pointed out. “Our second approach is to reduce the consumption of raw water of Zayandehrood River in order to decrease water stress in the region.
Accordingly, MSC has signed contracts for construction of sewerage networks in nine cities. These projects has cost around 3,800 billion IRs. So far, 500 km sewerage pipes have been installed and 163 km are under construction. Moreover, the company has constructed six pumping stations in Mobarakeh, four in Zarrinshahr, and another four pumping stations to transfer the water to Safaieh treatment plant. The company is planning to transfer around 12 million cubic meter of municipal wastewater to its production sites annually through construction of 26 km of sewerage network and a water treatment plant.
The development and improvement plan of the company is to construct one water treatment plant and four pumping stations, as well as completing and improving the existing sewerage network and treatment plants at a cost of about 3,500 billion IRs. Presently, about 70% of this wastewater can be treated to generate industrial water, which leads to a decrease of around 45% in the annual raw water consumption of MSC
“This project is a challenging one due to various reasons, including worn texture of the cities, special topography of the region, the existence of natural conflicts, land acquisition, various permits required, and other conflicts,” he added.