Rainwater Management

in Major Cities of Punjab

Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad

College of Earth and
Environmental Sciences.
University of The Punjab
Lahore
Need For Rainfall Harvesting in Urban Areas of Punjab

ƒ Groundwater reservoirs have been declining in urban

areas due to rapid urbanization. It is a major and
valuable source of water supply in Pakistan.

ƒ Excessive use of g
groundwater is causingg deterioration of
water quality and drying up of water wells.

ƒ Continuous over
over-draft
draft has resulted in excessive
groundwater abstraction, so that sweet water becoming
scarce in urban areas of Punjab Province.

ƒ Up-coning of deep saline water has started in some parts

of Punjab.

ƒ There is a need to realistically estimate and manage water

resources for sustainable development.
 Purpose

• Storage of rain water on surface for

future use
use.

• Recharge to ground water for

sustainable water supply
pp y in urban
areas.
Benefits of Use and Recharge
• To enhance the recharge for sustainable ground water yield in urban areas
where over development has depleted the aquifer.
• Utili ti off rainfall
Utilization i f ll runoff,
ff which
hi h is
i going
i waste t to
t sewer or storm
t water
t
drain.
• Storage of excess surface water for future requirements.
• As surface water is inadequate and of poor water quality to meet our demand,
demand
we have to depend on ground water.
• Due to rapid urbanization, infiltration of rainwater into the sub soil has
decreased and recharge g of gground water has diminished.
• With excessive water to improve the vegetation cover and reduce urban
flooding.
• To raise the water levels in water wells that are drying up.
• To remove bacteriological and other impurities from sewage and waste water
so that water is suitable for reuse.
• To improve the quality of existing Ground Water through dilution.
• To reduce power consumption.
(Source: Rainwater harvesting and conservation manual (2002) Consultancy services
organization, Central public works department, New Delhi)
Selected major Cities in Punjab

Name of city Population

((million)
o )

First Stage Lahore 6.748

Faisalabad 2.83
Multan 1.623
Second Stage Gujranwala 2.148
Rawalpindi 2 3 18
2.3
Sargodha 0.876
Location of Rainfall Stations in Punjab

Source: Pakistan Meteorological Department, Lahore

 Location of Lahore

Source: Google Maps, 2013

Lahore Rain, 12 August 2011
Urban Flooding Lahore
Under Pass During Rain
 Location of Lahore

Source: Google Earth, 2013

Location of Lahore
Location of Lahore
 A Typical System from Roof Top

Source: Eldho T.
T I.,
I Integrated Watershed Management & Rainwater Harvesting,
Harvesting Department of Civil
Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay/ India
 Lahore Climate and Rainfall

Mean Monthly Rainfall at Lahore (1931-2011)

180 165
160 154

140
120
Raiinfall (mm)

100
80 69 Mean

60 48
40 27 26 30
17 17 12
20 6 11
0
MAY
FEB

SEP
JAN

MAR

APR

JUN

JUL

AUG

OCT

DEC
NOV
Data source: Pakistan Meteorological Department, Lahore
 Lahore Climate and Rainfall

Data source: Pakistan Meteorological Department, Lahore

 Lahore Climate and Rainfall

Data source: Pakistan Meteorological Department, Lahore

 Lahore Climate and Rainfall

Data source: Pakistan Meteorological Department, Lahore

 Initial Findings
• Selected pictures of Lahore city show that a large number
of roof tops are available for storage of rain water on
surface for future use.
• The earth maps depicted that pockets of useful areas are
available to make arrangements for recharge to ground
water for sustainable water supply in Lahore
• Rainfall graphs and selected pictures of flooding in Lahore
city show that plenty of rainwater is available for rainwater
harvesting.
• Temperature graphs show that evaporation losses during
rainwater harvesting need to be calculated and subtracted
to determine net water available.
Faisalabad
 Faisalabad

Source: Google Earth, 2013

Water Pollution in Faisalabad
 Water Pollution in Faisalabad

Source: Scott et al. (2011) Wastewater Use in Irrigated Agriculture, Coordinating the Livelihood and
Environmental Realities
 Faisalabad Climate and Rainfall

Mean Monthly Rainfall at Faisalabad

(1951-2004)

120
100
100
85
fall (mm)

80

60 Mean
Rainfa

35 38
40
22 20
20 17
13 14
6 8
3
0
FEB

APR

OCT

DEC
JAN

MAY

JUN

JUL
MAR

SEP
AUG

NOV
A

D
M
M

N
Data source: Pakistan Meteorological Department, Lahore
 Faisalabad Climate and Rainfall

Annual Rainfall at Faisalabad

((1951-2004))

900
800
700
Rainffall (mm)

600
500
400
300
200
100
0
1951
1954
1957
1960
1963
1966
1969
1972
1975
1978
1981
1984
1987
1990
1993
1996
1999
2002
Data source: Pakistan Meteorological Department, Lahore
 Faisalabad Climate and Rainfall

Maximum and Minimum Temperature at Faisalabad (1951-2004)

50
44 43 43
45
41
38 39
perature (Degrree C)

40 38 37 37
35
30 27
25 25 25 25 Maximum
25 22 21 21 Minimum
20 16
Temp

15
15
9
10 6
5 4
2 2
0
FEB

APR
JAN

JUN

JUL

SEP
MAR

MAY

AUG

OCT

DEC
NOV
Data source: Pakistan Meteorological Department, Lahore
 Initial Findings
• Water pollution is one of the major issue to be solved
through dilution of fresh sweet rainwater or its direct use
through storage of rain water on surface.
• Some parts of areas where groundwater is shallow or water
logged need to be investigated. WAPDA has already taken
measures in such areas to solve problem.
• Rainfall graphs show that enough rainwater is available for
rainwater harvesting.
• Temperature graphs show that evaporation losses during
rainwater harvesting need to be calculated and subtracted
to determine net water available.
 Multan

Source: Google Earth, 2013

 Location of Multan

Source: Google Maps, 2013

 Multan Climate and Rainfall

Mean Monthly Rainfall at Multan

(1950-2001)

70

60 58

50
nfall (mm)

40 35
Mean
30
Rain

22
20 18
13 12 13
8 10
10 7
4 3
0
FEB

SEP
JAN

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

NOV
OCT

DEC
Data source: Pakistan Meteorological Department, Lahore
 Multan Climate and Rainfall

Annual Rainfall at Multan

(1950-2001)

600

500
Rainffall (mm)

400

300 Annual

200

100

0
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
Data source: Pakistan Meteorological Department, Lahore
 Multan Climate and Rainfall

Maximum and Minimum Temperature at Multan (1950-2001)

60
49 50
50 47 48
45 43
Tempeerature (Degreee C)

42
39
40 35 36
28 30
30 Maximum
20 21 21
20 Minimum
16
13
9 9
10
3
1
0
MAY
Y

AUG
G

NOV
V
FEB
B

MAR
R

APR
R

SEP
P
JAN
N

JUN
N

JUL
L

OCT
T

DEC
C
-4 -2
2 -3
3
-10

Data source: Pakistan Meteorological Department, Lahore

 Initial Findings
• Water pollution and water shortage are major issues to be
solved.
solved

• Rainfall ggraphs
p show that mean annual rainwater available
for rainwater harvesting is 195 mm. It is low as compared
to Lahore and Faisalabad. Therefore careful planning for
rainwater harvesting will be required.
required

• Temperature
p ggraphs
p show air temperature
p is qquite high
g in
this city. Evaporation losses would be high and need to be
calculated and subtracted to determine net water available.
 Conclusions

• Rainwater harvesting in Urban areas is very important for

sustainability of available water for future use.
use
• Generally large rainwater resource is available to cater the
water.
• The recharging of ground water to maintain the declining
aquifer levels in urban areas of Punjab can be done through
rainfall management.
management
• Rainfall harvesting should be included in water polices.
• Some best designg of structures should be tested in urban
areas before to use.
• Evaporation losses need to be calculated and subtracted to
d t
determine
i nett water
t available
il bl for
f exploitation.
l it ti