The untold story of water in Tehran

Water is the source of all life. The Environment Committee of the Tehran City Council visited one of Tehran's water purification facilities and laboratories probably the most advanced in our region. Dr. Abad, my colleague in the Council also accompanied us. She is a woman of character , affectionate and forward-looking in her ways. She has a history of 4 years imprisonment in the AbuGhurieb prison in Iraq, during the eight year war that Saddam waged against Iran. We sometimes talk together about her courageous resistance in very difficult and inhuman circumstances alongside other women who were also imprisoned in those days.The strength and courage that faith can give to us is sometimes unbelievable.
She recalls those difficult but heroic moments with pride and occaisionally expresses concern on whether we are on the correct path today .
Some members of the media also joined us in the visit.They were asked to report objectively and correctly inform the public, about the challenges we have ahead, if population increases and consumption patterns do not change. We were briefed on water resources, allocation of new resources for the increasing population, reservoirs, purification and chlorination methods. We also visited the very sophisticated and advanced laboratories for analysing biological,chemical and physical qualities of the water produced and released in the pipelines. We visited the incoming water chamber (coming from Karaj dam) , the accelerators where the coagulation and precipitation process is executed and the filtration halls, we also saw the control rooms and the telemetric regulation performed. I felt proud to see how our experts and managers work so hard to maintain a standard quality of water for 8.5 million inhabitants of Tehran . We discussed ways to enhance water quality and standards and quality control methods and parameters which are routinely checked . We reiterated our commitment in the Council to support and assist the Tehran water authorities in their tireless efforts to improve water quality, and correct unsustainable water consumption patterns. An enlightening visit; now we can confidently enjoy a glass of Tehran water directly from the tap !