Investigation of water and wastewater management in small businesses in Qom city with a focus on drought and environmental threats caused by water scarcity

Currently, in order to adapt to the existing water crisis in the country and ensure sustainable water supply and distribution management, the implementation of proper management methods based on sustainability principles is one of the most fundamental needs. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating water and wastewater management in small businesses in Qom city with the perspective of drought and environmental threats caused by water shortage in 2021.

The present research is a descriptive-cross-sectional study that was conducted after field survey and statistics obtained from the Water and Wastewater Department on 223 trades related to 67 guilds in the city of Qom. The amount of water consumption, wastewater production, and the management of water and wastewater in businesses were studied with a focus on drought and environmental threats resulting from water scarcity, and the results were reported descriptively.

Considering the amount of water consumption, businesses were classified into four categories. It was determined that businesses in category one, 96.82% of businesses with an average consumption of 246.2 ± 574.2, category two businesses, 17.47% with an average of 6142.3 ± 2823.19, category three businesses, 36.4% with an average of 121.2 ± 5.40, and category four businesses, 83.5% with an average water consumption of 821.215 ± 28.355 cubic meters per month, were in terms of efficiency, respectively, in businesses from one to four, 08.61, 25.56, 33.33, and 46.38% of businesses lacked a specific plan for water conservation

The results show that the management of water and wastewater in businesses in the city of Qom does not have favorable conditions. Considering the decrease in rainfall and drought, it seems that the issue of water supply may be the biggest challenge in this city. Most of the businesses under study lack a specific plan for water conservation, and water resource managers should make decisions regarding compensating for water scarcity and preventing water quality degradation while accurately estimating and evaluating water resources and consumption.