Dānu derives from the same Iranian root as a number of hydronyms in Europe, such as Don, Dnieper, Danube and Dniester.

[18] Lake Sevan (with 30 rivers contributing to its storage), the largest located in the central part of the country and the Hrazdan River which originates from it, together form the "Sevan-Hrazdan Management Area", which is one of the five sub-basins of the 14 sub-basins of Kura and Araks basins of Armenia.

[19] The geological formations along the river course are made up of lava flows (existing as basalts) generated from three volcanoes in the Gegham range.

The lava surfaces represent environments that existed in the form of "lakes, river channels and floodplains".

[20] The river drains a total catchment area of 2,566 square kilometres (991 sq mi).

The regulated outflow into the river, which forms the Ararat Valley, is utilized for irrigation and hydro-power benefits.

The hydro-power development was planned on the river as the Sevan–Hrazdan Cascade involving seven schemes in a 70 kilometres (43 mi) stretch of the river with a total installed capacity of 560 MW with mean annual energy generation of around 500 million kilowatt hours; it is the largest hydro-power generating scheme in Armenia.

[3] In 2003, the International Energy Corporation", a Closed Joint Stock Company, acquired the projects from the Public Services Regulatory Commission of the country under a license No.

[25] The river water is polluted by effluent flows from agricultural, commercial, industrial, and residential development, but particularly by the untreated wastewater from Yerevan.