Efficient Strategy to Remove Potable Water Scarcity in Lahore

Ijaz Ahmad¹, Muhammad Sajid Iqbal¹,Noor ul Huda Naveed¹,and Mohammad Junaid Iqbal²

¹University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore.

²University of Minesota USA.

* Correspondence: Muhammad Sajid Iqbal, m.sajidiqbal123@gmail.com.

Citation | Ahmad.I, Iqbal.M.S, Naveed.N.H, and Iqbal.M.J “Efficient Strategy to Remove
Potable Water Scarcity in Lahore”. International Journal of Innovations in Science &
Technology, Vol 02 Issue 04: pp 137-149, 2020.
Received |Oct 14, 2020; Revised | Nov 11, 2020; Accepted | Nov 13, 2020; Published |
Nov 15, 2020.
Abstract.
“Water is life” is not only a phrase but also a reality which ensure human survival. This study
provides an important tool to analyze different water management strategies that can be
helpful in saving available water resources in an efficient way. Consultation with the public
and officials of Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), Lahore Development Authority
(LDA), and Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA) made this easier to
understand the acceptability of the explored strategies in Lahore. A sample size of
400population was observed a supportive method to draw favorable results from the
collected primary data. It is estimated that Lahore and its outskirts receive highest rainfall
which contributes 40% to the annual groundwater recharge but the water table is still
depleting gradually. This research provides necessary information regarding the conservation
of ground water. The correlations method was applied to check the significance of the
variables. The findings proposed that authorities must communicate awareness among
general public regarding importance of water or should start programs for water
management. The other way of correlating strategies implemented in other similar countries
led us towards billing and taxing as the topmost strategy to be implemented in our case
study. A total of 66% targeted population was willing to make this strategy implemented
through government support. Although other strategies like flash flooding, water recycling,
rainwater harvesting, and equitable access to water all the time were following the acceptance
as 60%, 61%, and 62% respectively. Finally, imposition of strict laws on water usage leads
toward water saving for a sustainable future.
Keywords: Water recycling, Direct Potable Reuse (DPR), Scarcity, Rainfall harvesting.
Introduction
This fact is proved that with the increase in urbanization the demand for fundamental
amenities like potable water is increased. The recent migration trends of masses toward
developed cities in search of basic needs of life are very common around the world. It is the
main reason of extensive urbanization [1]. The rapid urbanization and the population growth
have increased the demands of fresh water to manage various tasks from domestic to
industrial scales [2]. The increase in demand has put an intolerable liability on the natural
water reserves. Correspondingly, the rapid changes that had been seen in the climate are
also the major factors in the scarcity of water in different cities. In this situation, the
strategies for water management can be a progressive step towards preserving this natural
resource for the challenges that the future beholds. The enhanced cycle of various human
activities like agriculture, urbanization, and industrialization have put huge pressure on
available reservoirs of fresh water [3]. The recent study on the assessment of adoption of
rainwater harvesting system in residential building in Lahore is also supporting one of the
best strategies for management. Various countries faced this challenge and implemented
different strategies and approaches to cope with this. The major issues seen in South Africa
are the extraordinary level of poverty and inequality (water services problems), higher need
of already stressed water capitals through the developing economy, annual rainfall which has
been recorded is lesser time, fast-flowing rivers and huge underground reservoirs,
exacerbation of scanty rainfall by high levels of evaporation, consumption of half of the
available resources, abandoned growth in population and decrease of water resources, low
level of social flexibility, the amount of water per capita, unmanageable use of water
resources, unaware and uneducated population, and poor technological capability[4].In India,
the challenges faced during portable water management are to access of the general public to
adequate safe water, institutional challenges, service provision, over-extraction of
groundwater, increasing monetary crisis, absence of affected people involvement, and
inadequate transparency[5]. The policies implemented to overcome these challenges are to
develop and to manage these resources, to promote river basin organization, to guarantee
integrated water resource management, to support groundwater governance, to scale
community-based tanks rejuvenation, to endorse public-private partnership, and to set up
and strengthen water regulatory authorities [6]. Sri Lanka is also falling on the line of those
countries which faced water management challenges [7]. The main challenges are ejection of
the private sector participation, the feeble institutional arrangement, the contamination of
water resources from urban, industrial, and agricultural wastes, and soil erosion of water by
mismanagement of land-use [7]. The strategies adopted by the Siri Lankans are the
institutional arrangements in the water sector, the planned water policies and laws,
maintainable water resources management, water transfer competence, construction of new
hydraulic infrastructure, and the availability of more water storage through dams [7]. In
Lahore, the main challenges identified are inaccessible safe water, institutional challenge, and
undiversified service provision, over-extraction of groundwater, growing financial crunch,
lack of advanced technology, and lack of awareness to manage portable water.[8]. The
solutions derived in the light of the above countries are to apply taxing/billing over high
usage, institutional arrangements in the water sector, to improve our technological capacity,
try alternate models (Intern-Basin Transfer Approach, Auto-flush system), incentive-based
voluntary programs, water conservation measures (groundwater recharge), and rainwater
capture[9]. Amendments concerning potable water management in building regulations are a
very important tool to support policy measures taken by the authorities.
We are living in the modern era but still, people of our far furlong, as well as urban dwellings
are in a state of water shortage. Thus, intentionally or unintentionally people are forced to
drink either unhygienic water, bottled, or tap water. Communities have been facing
deficiencies of potable water supply due to the rapid growth of population and development
patterns[10]. At the same time Pakistan is struggling to manage natural hazards for survival
from nastiest catastrophic conditions which may occur in future. [11]
Pakistan lacks in reliable statistics due to the unavailability of safe and sufficient drinking
water. Pipe water in Pakistan is contaminated either because of leakages with all sorts of
bacteria or geological conditions and insufficient purification. The process of recovering
drinking water from wastewater to enhance the sustainability and reliability of water supplies
is called Direct Potable Reuse (DPR). This process can support the supply side. A dominant
question in the planning and engineering sector is to determine how can communities
continue to grow and flourish while meeting the water resource needs and providing a high
quality of life to future generations? Access to adequate water supplies for municipal,
industrial, and agricultural uses are important factors among these needs.
Many regions around the world face freshwater shortages due to poor management of the
increasing population and development burdens. This research aims to bridge this gap
through assessment of different water management strategies in Lahore.
Methodology
The methodology involves the widespread review of relevant literature and collection of
primary data through interviews with relevant stakeholders. Literature review convinced and
pushed for the initiation of research which was majorly supported by research articles from
peer-reviewed journals. A good number of research articles/reports regarding water
management strategies, mostly published in high evaluated journals, were reviewed for
comprehension of different strategies adopted by countries for the removal of water scarcity.
This helped in identifying the research gap and the study domain to be tapped. Primary data
were collected through interviews from two sets of respondents: (I) concerned officials of
WAPDA, WASA, and LDA, (ii) residents from a sampled household. As many as 8 officials
were interviewed to take the viewpoint of WASA and LDA for management strategies. This
is a total number of officials whose work domain is related to the scope of this research.
Interviews done with concerned officials helped in understanding the motivation behind
introducing water management strategies in the case study. Institutional, legislative, and
operational issues concerning the introduction and implementation of the most suitable
strategies were also documented through these interviews. Snowball sampling technique was
used to approach the officials.
So, after reviewing literature about the challenges and strategies faced by different countries,
we determined the main role of the study, based on that aim we formulated different
objectives to meet our demands. After the formulation of objectives, the next important step
was to define the scope of the study. We determined our target population and also the type
of research to be carried out. We defined the scope to limit our study to meet the main
purpose of the research.
Interviews with selected residents were conducted to consider their views on the
implementation of analyzed strategies and to explore factors affecting the adaptability of the
strategies. It was a daunting task to identify and select the residents for interviews who
would have some knowledge and awareness about the water management strategies. The
scope of the study could have been very extensive due to the large sample size if all
populations would have been considered for sample size. Therefore, to calculate the sample
size of residents, a discussion was held with WAPDA, WASA, and LDA officials to devise a
plan for data collection. The plan included9 official towns/zones created by authority and to collect 45 interviews from each zone. Thus, a total of 400households came into calculations by Solvin’s formula of sample size with a 95% confidence level. The population is projected till 2020 by the following formula. Pt=P0*(1+r/100)t The population was calculated as 12540846.Out of these 400, a total of 352 interviews were conducted successfully, and the remaining 48 couldn't be conducted due to the non- cooperation of respondents. Either the residents felt reluctant to respond or the houses were locked. The collected data are further processed by the chi-square test, t-test, and regression analysis on SPSS to draw the best results. After applying these analyses, the best method was a correlation to support the defined variables and study. Case Study. Lahore with a population of 11.13 million people is termed as the administrative, educational, business, political, and recreational hub of the province Punjab located in the sub-tropical, semi-arid region[12].The water table in Lahore has been observed depleting the freshwater layer and dropping data rate of 2 ft per annum[13].Lahore receives average rainfall as 575 mm annually, and changing from 300 mm to1200 mm[14 ].The monsoon period is from July to August which is the hottest spell of the year with most water demand. It is estimated that Lahore has the highest rainfall which contributes 40% of the annual groundwater recharge. Water channel include canal passing through the center, and Ravi River passing adjacent to the boundary. Hence due to rainwater harvesting, canal, and the river, it can be formulated for the varying ideas to adopt water management strategies. The most important is to make people aware of changing their water usage pattern and to contribute to recharging the underground water table. Lahore is the second-most populous city of the country with the population increasing at a frightening rate, correspondingly have an increasing water demand[15 ].The study site is mapped in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Geographical presentation of case study Results The main purpose of taking interview of officials of relevant authorities was to make them involved in introducing the best possible strategies for potable water management in our case study. These strategies were discussed with them through a checklist of strategies derived in the light of literature of different countries. As LDA officials were already doing the practice of groundwater recharging through the amended building regulations 2014. Therefore, their main focus was to get the public involved in this process and they were keen to implement these strategies with the collaboration of other authorities like WAPDA and WASA in Lahore. Likewise WASA, the WAPDA officials also focused to get the public response and to make them aware of the water management strategies and were in progress to use such models through rules and regulations. The viewpoint of Residents. The basic aim behind getting the response was to get their viewpoint for supporting or rejecting the potable water management strategies coded into the questionnaire. Therefore, in the future, this research might be helpful to the officials for defining policies for these strategies. Socio-economic information of the residents. The main purpose of adding this question was to get an idea of what is the comparative usage of water between bigger and smaller families. In our case study, household size contained1 to 3 which is 22%, 4 to 6 is 46% and more than 6 was 32%. In our case study, most of the families were literate and knew how to use water effectively. Awareness programs could easily be delivered for the follow up of water 46% 32% 22% 12% 88% management strategies in Lahore. People were observed keenly to attend such events and to provide their feedback positively. The demographic information and literacy rate are mentioned in Figures 2 and 3. Figure 4 is showing water consumption at various levels in the city boundary. 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Demographic Information 1 to 3 4 to 6 >6 HH Size

Figure 2: Demographic information of respondents 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Educational Status literate Illiterate

Figure 3: Literacy rate in the study site %age %age

Figure 4: Water Consumption Pattern of residents
Table 1:Awareness Status of the Residents

Table 1reveals that the general public response agreeing upon “Accessibility towards
instructions given by authority for water management” as the most effective among the five
correlated strategies. The public acceptability towards this strategy is 67% of the targeted
population. The same strategy is dependent on others like the involvement of the public in
helping the authorities to implement strategies as 69% of the total. Accordingly, work needs
to be done on all the strategies to get the required results as per the public desire.
Table 2:Correlation status of water management strategies by residents

Table 2 elaborates the correlation between the public acceptability of the extracted
strategies which recognizes accessibility towards billing/taxing to be executed immediately in
line with other strategies. The public response towards this strategy is 66% of the sample.
The public willingness towards flash flooding is 60%, reusing the water as 61%, for rainwater
harvesting 61%, for recycling the water as 64%, and for equitable access for water as 62%.
The analysis is based on preliminary studies and can be revised with future studies.
Discussion
As the levels and quality of groundwater in Lahore is being dejected at a very fast
rate, therefore it is projected that the aquifer will not be used in near future. Therefore, there
is a dreadful requirement for considering the undercurrents and aspects accountable for this
worthless condition. After the analysis of interview data based on previous studies regarding
potable water management problems in the case study, we can draw some direction for the
strategies. In the first table, one of the most important strategies resulted is the instructions
from the government authorities to the public for water management strategies. These
instructions can be given through events or seminars and social media campaigns.This will
help in altering the attitude of people to take some initial steps to think for alternative
options for aquifer recharge and contribute towards saving it from vanishing.
Other strategy accepted after public response and supporting views of officials is the
billing and taxing mechanism for the water usage in the household. The billing system can be
effective in reducing the household water wastage. At the present stages, authorities should
make policies for the implementation of suggested strategies in the case study with the
instructions of the government for water management. In later stages, groundwater levels
monitoring is required for sustainable management of this resource, public awareness is
required through different seminars for potable water use and reuse, with the collaboration
of advanced technological facilities authorities. With the ongoing situation of nature, there is
very important to save even tiny drops of rainwater for replacing the extraction of
groundwater. Lahore receive 575 mm rainfall annually, rainfall water harvesting mechanism
should be adopted to save this reserve.
Pakistan was once a water-stressed country has now become a water-scarce country.
A study was conducted to prioritize the strategies required to fill the gap for potable water
management. The findings of the study in form of government authorities to give public
access towards instructions for water management as well as water recycling, rainwater
harvesting and execute billing or taxing on a priority basis for public well-being. These
strategies must be in line with all other strategies like flash flooding, and equitable access to
water all the time for its effective implementation. These methods will be the best tools to
save water for other fields of agriculture and biodiversity. The present data results beautifully
in the above precious strategies but with the ongoing situation of nature, strategies can be
altered with further studies.
Acknowledgment. Prof. Dr. Ijaz Ahmad, Muhammad Shafaat Nawaz, Planner Rab Nawaz,
Muhammad Nadeem
Author’s Contribution. Dr. Ijaz Ahmad was responsible for the overall guidance of
other authors and the monitoring of the data. Muhammad Sajid Iqbal was responsible
for data analysis, Noor ul Huda Naveed was responsible for data compilation and
Muhammad Junaid Iqbal was responsible for data collection. Muhammad Sajid Iqbal and
Noor ul Huda have compiled this Research Paper.
Conflict of interest. There exists no conflict of interest in publishing this manuscript in
IJIST.
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