Water consumption management and its role on energy saving, case study of Tehran, Iran

Due to shortage of precipitation and the spatial and periodical disparity of rainfalls, Iran is counted among the arid and semi-arid countries of the world, and therefore the water utilities have put the control of consumption and efficient use of water high on their priorities. Water consumption management is considered as a field of energy management, and the impacts of effective measure related to water consumption pattern and its optimization on reducing demands are quite clear. Therefore one of the main objectives of consumption management policies is to optimize energy and reducing the costs of energy needed to supply potable water from production sources. To have a relative estimate of the amount of energy reduced as a consequence of consumption management the outcomes of a case study undertaken in a region of Tehran were used. In this study, the application of consumption management measures yielded in a 19% reduction in water consumption. This amount of reduction limits requirements from production sources such as wells and treatment plants and its direct impact is to reduce the required energy and the costs of water supply

Biological nitrate removal form water resources

During the recent decades, the increasing trends in nitrate ion concentration in ground water sources have meant more research to find effective procedures for the prevention of even more water contamination by nitrogen sources. In this study a pilot was designed to examine the application of biological method for eliminating nitrate from the water of well No.903 of Mehrabad Airport, Tehran, Iran. Design, installation and running processes were done from April to November 2003. A fixed biological bed containing five-centimeter trunk pipes 16 mm in diameter were installed in the reactor and the system was operated with upflow current. Instead of Methanol, Acetic acid was used as the carbon source because of its easier acceptance by the public, lower price and availability as well as easier storage. The pilot was run in different hydraulic retention times from 48 h up to one hour. Considering economical, operational and maintenance factors, retention time of 2 h was determined to be optimum, in which 77% nitrate removal was achieved. Considering a ratio of 2 for COD/N, inlet COD of about 140 mg/L and the optimum retention time, COD removal of about 80% is also accomplished in this process. The amount of nitrite concentration, pH values, COD and turbidity is also evaluated versus different hydraulic retention times