The Regional Centre on Urban Water Management (RCUWM), under the auspices of UNESCO, successfully convened a high-level regional workshop titled “Sustainable Wastewater Operations: Lessons, Challenges, and the Roadmap” on 8 and 9 September 2026 in Tehran.
The workshop, held in the Convention Hall of Tehran Water and Wastewater Compnay, provided a platform for exchanging national and international expertise on sustainable wastewater management, with a focus on strengthening the operation, maintenance, and long-term management of wastewater infrastructure.
The event discussed topics including asset management and rehabilitation of ageing networks and treatment plants, wastewater reuse and resource recovery, sustainable financing and private-sector participation, and the application of digital technologies such as video inspection, GIS, and BIM. The discussions also addressed safe sanitation and septage management, circular approaches to wastewater, and opportunities for regional and international cooperation in knowledge exchange, capacity building, and the development of sustainable wastewater solutions.
The hybrid workshop brought together more than 200 participants in-person plus more than 700 online attendees from across the country. The technical program comprised four specialized sessions, featuring presentations by five international experts from Sweden, Spain, Türkiye, Armenia, and Canada, alongside 12 prominent Iranian experts representing key national institutions, including the Ministry of Energy and the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company (NWWEC).
The workshop also benefited from the virtual participation of representatives from RCUWM Governing Board member states, including Armenia, Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, and Türkiye. Their participation further highlighted the regional scope and significance of the discussions and facilitated the exchange of knowledge and experience among experts and stakeholders from across the region.
| presentations |
|---|
| 1.1 Status of the Iran Wastewater Infrastructure
Mr. Ehteshami, Director General of the Office for Supervision of Wastewater |
| 1.2 An Overview of the Wastewater Sector in the Republic of Armenia
Ms. Armine Arushanyan, Senior Specialist, Department of Water Supply and |
| 1.3 Tehran’s Comprehensive Plan for Raw Water Supply for Urban Green Spaces and the Outlook for the Future
Mr. Tork, Deputy for Water and Energy, Tehran Parks and Green Space Organization |
| 1.4 Creating Value from Wastewater in the Water, Energy, and Food Nexus
Mr. Manzoor Qadir, Professor, UNU Institute for Water, Environment and Health |
| 2.1 Guidelines for Providing Wastewater Connections to Commercial and Industrial Facilities
Mr. Faezi, Head of the Wastewater Operations Supervision Group, National Water |
| 2.2 An Overview of the Implementation of CCTV Inspection and Internal Condition Coding of Sewer Pipelines in Iran
Mr. Hosseinzadeh, Senior Expert, Office for Supervision of Wastewater Operations, |
| 2.3 Experiences in Cleaning and Rehabilitation of Wastewater Collection Networks (Isfahan Finance Project)
Mr. Karimi and Mr. Kamaranian, Tarh & Tahghighat Ab-o-Fazelab Consulting Engineers |
| 2.4 Wastewater Network Rehabilitation Methods
Mr. Ahmadi Motlagh, Head of the Wastewater Technical Committee, Development of Technical Rules and Criteria for the Water Industry |
| 3.1 Should We Accept Septage at Wastewater Treatment Plants?
Mr. Nourmohammadi, Director of the Technical Office, Wastewater Operations Deputy, Tehran Province Water and Wastewater Company |
| 3.2 Construction Information Management: The Missing Link in Improving Wastewater Treatment Plant Operations
Mr. Taheri, Member of the Supreme Council of the Iranian National Water and Wastewater Committee |
| 3.3 Wastewater Safety Plan (SSP)
Mr. Shaghaghi, Deputy for Environmental Health, Center for Environmental and Occupational Health, Ministry of Health and Medical Education |
| 3.4 Potential Options for Wastewater Reuse in Türkiye: Institutional Perspectives and Policy Approaches
Mr. Serhat Günaydın, Director General of the Water Management Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Türkiye |
| 4.1 From Wastewater Threat to Treated Effluent Opportunity: Redefining the Role of Wastewater in Water Supply and Sustainable Development
Ms. Eskandari, Director General of the Office for Financial Resource Mobilization and Partnership Development, National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company |
| 4.2 Circular Wastewater Management Using Source-Separation Technology
Ms. Inga Herrmann, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden |
| 4.3 Biosolids Processing Using Pyrolysis at the West Tehran Wastewater Treatment Plant
Mr. Barati, Deputy for Operations, Tehran Wastewater Company |
| 4.4 Creating Value through Agricultural Water Reuse: Lessons from Mediterranean and California Systems
Mr. Francisco Pedrero Salcedo, Researcher, Center for Research in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Spain |
