Iranian, French Universities Team Up to Carry Out Project on Qanats
The project of evolving the ancient subsurface water supply systems aims to study the effects of human activities and climate change on the quantity and quality of water in qanats.
Roohollah Noori, a faculty member of the environment college of the University of Tehran has proposed the project which has been selected by the French Embassy as the best sustainable development project.
A team of international researchers from Iran (The University of Tehran), France (The University of Montpellier), and Denmark (The University of Copenhagen) is involved to provide solutions for preserving the water transfer canals which date back to 3,000 years ago.
Qanats are one of the symbols of ancient civilizations made by Iranian initiatives.
Considering the excessive use of underground water resources as well as the penetration of pollutants to the subsurface water canals, these ancient structures have been exposed to destruction over the past decades, Noori explained.
Preparing a roadmap for the future to develop strategies for preserving qanats both in quantity and quality force us to carry out the project, he said, adding that the final goal of the project is to slow down the trend of destruction.
Available data indicate some 37,000 out of a total of 120,000 ancient subsurface water supply systems, qanats, are still in use in Iran in arid and semi-arid regions of the country.
Generally, each qanat comprises an almost horizontal tunnel for collecting water from an underground water source, usually an alluvial fan, into which a mother well is sunk to the appropriate level of the aquifer.
A selection of eleven qanats is collectively been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list under the title of Persian Qanat.
Each of them epitomizes many others in terms of geographic scopes, architectural designs, and other motives. Such subterranean tunnels provide exceptional testimony to cultural traditions and civilizations in desert areas with arid climates.
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