Behta addresses Iran’s water scarcity problems with new water purification systems

by Omid Saei Water Purification Specialist

Iran, like other countries in the Middle East, is facing water scarcity problems that have been risen due to climate change and poor management of the sufficient available water resources through recent years. Drying lakes and rivers, declining groundwater resources, land subsidence, water contamination, water supply rationing and disruptions, forced migration, agricultural losses, salt and sand storms, and ecosystem damages are the modern water-related issues of the nation which was once recognized as the pioneer of sustainable water management.

Behta Water Solutions, a new startup in Sharif University of Technology accelerator (SETAK) and advanced technologies incubator (SATI), is addressing some of these issues by providing modern technologies to supply sustainable water resources for Iran’s fresh water demands. Technologies incorporated by Behta provides a framework to convert saline and sea water to fresh water with small energy costs and footprint. These technologies use modular forward and reverse osmosis water desalination system and are optimized to draw minimum electrical energy and doesn’t require large capital costs to build.

The desalination process consists of RO separation units that remove smallest possible contaminants including chlorides from sea and brine water, and water purification and disinfection units that removes any impurities (bacteria, viruses, etc.). The resulting system can be produced in any scales from small sizes for portable and emergency water desalination unit producing about 2 cubic meters per day to a full-scale desalination plant providing fresh and purified water for a city.

A major part of activities in Behta is focused on the development of new technologies for water purification. Behta has been working on novel water filters, including ultrafiltration and forward osmosis membrane that can output potable water with lower pressure requirements while producing small drain water. High quality ultrafiltration (UF) membrane developed by Behta is currently sold in Iran and is used in many systems ranging from home water purifier devices to industrial water filtration systems. Forward osmosis (FO) membrane are relatively newer technology which Behta is the first and only manufacturer of this kind of water filters in Iran.

For more information, please visit Behta water purification website: https://www.behtawater.com/