The status of wastewater management in Shokuhieh industrial park (A case study of Qom province)

Background: Water resource management is a strategic issue in Qom city. Water scarcity is one of the most critical concerns of industrial estates. This study aimed to evaluate wastewater management in the Shokuhieh industrial park of Qom province in 2013. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study done by visiting the industrial units in person, completing questionnaires and analyzing the results. The questionnaire had 25 questions, including general information, the status of water supply, treatment and consumption, wastewater production, reuse or discharge of produced wastewater and the status of wastewater treatment and discharge of effluent. The industrial units evaluated were active with over 50 personnel and numbered 44 in total. Results: The water suppliers in the industries included network (70.5%), network and reverse osmosis (RO) (22.5%), network and tanker (2.4%) and tanker (4.6%). 63.63% of the industries had water treatment systems. 19.5% reused wastewater and 31.8% performed pretreatment before discharge of wastewater. The discharge sites of water treatment units’ effluent included the absorption well (17%), greenbelt (18%) and sewer (65%). Discharge sites of sanitary wastewater in 50% of the industries was sewer and in 50%, it was absorption well. The discharge sites of processed wastewater was reuse (2%), sewer (52%) and absorption well (46%). Discharge sites of exiting effluent from pretreatment units in the industrial park, included sewer (85.5%), transport by tanker (7.1%) and absorption well (7.1%). The type of pretreatment process in 35.7% of the industries was chemical and in 64.3%, it was septic tank. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that pre-treatment is not done in most industries and wastewater reuse is performed in few industries. The main method of wastewater disposal in industries was by discharge into the sewer and absorbent well.