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Iran’s clean water penetration rate higher than global average: Minister

Iran’s energy minister says access to piped water in the country is above current global average.

Iran’s Minister of Energy Reza Ardakanian says the country has managed to provide piped water to a bulk of the population as current penetration rate in the country is higher than global average.

Ardakanian said on Monday that the entire urban population in Iran and more than 82 percent of people living in the countryside are currently using clean water.

He said global penetration rates for clean water in urban and rural regions are currently at 96 percent and 53 percent, respectively.

“The sense of satisfaction in the society is amplified through expressing what we do have,” said Ardakanian while opening water projects in the city of Sorkheh, a small town in northern Iran and the birthplace of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

The remarks came as Rouhani plans to open a major water desalination and transfer project in southern Iran on Thursday.

A government official said on Monday that the $600-million project would enable transferring water from desalination facilities on the Persian Gulf to massive mining and metals plants in Sirjan, located 305 kilometers away from the coast in arid regions in southeastern Kerman province.

Ardaknian said the government had spent nearly $300 million in hard currency for pumping devices and other special equipment needed for the Bandar Abbas-Sirjan water transfer project.

He said that Iran’s current desalination output is around 225 million cubic meters, adding that the government has authorized plans for using 26 billion m3 of sea water to produce 2.7 billion m3 of clean water for consumption in 17 coastal and non-coastal provinces.

“Our citizens should be confident that the government would not tolerate migration because of water shortage,” he said.


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