Lahore

REGIONAL OFFICE LAHORE

About

Regional Office Lahore

Regional Office PCRWR, Lahore conducts site-specific research on all issues related to water for agriculture and domestic purpose in Northern Indus Plains including irrigation scheduling, efficient irrigation practices, groundwater monitoring and management, Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR), trans-boundary water related issues, water quality of ground and surface waters in own water quality laboratories which are well equipped for the analysis of drinking, irrigation and waste water for general public and also provide suitable solutions for water quality.
The Regional Office was established with specific objectives as follows:

Objectives

To determine the water requirements of major crops in the irrigated areas.
To carry out applied research on efficient use of land and water resources.
To design and develop various soil moisture instruments for efficient use of water.
To provide consultancy services to public/farming communities to develop and utilize groundwater.
To undertake monitoring of water quality in cities, rivers, and aquifers.
Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR).
Laser Land Leveling.
Analysis of drinking, irrigation and waste water for general public/clients with suitable reclamation options.
To maintain liaison and working relationship with various departments, universities, etc. in water sector.
To document and disseminate research results to farming community/end users.

Major Research Areas

Water Management

1. Research & Demonstration Center

PCRWR established a Research & Demonstration (R&D) Centre in 2005 comprising land of 21 acres to research trials on water conservation strategies for Irrigated Agriculture. The Center is located about 4 km away from Sial interchange on M2 motorway in District Sargodha.

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2. Groundwater Management (Electrical Resistivity Survey)

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3. Crop Water Requirement of Crops through Lysimeteric Studies

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Automatic Weather Station

PCRWR/ IWMI ‘with generous support of USAID’ have installed an automated weather station (sometimes called automatic weather station) at lysimetric station in DLR/ Mughalpura, Lahore. Automatic weather station provides an integrated system of components that are used to measure, monitor & study the weather. It is an automated version of the traditional weather station to save human labour and to enable high frequency measurements. An Automated weather station will typically consist of a weather-proof enclosure containing the data logger, rechargeable battery and telemetry. The meteorological sensors (solar radiation & humidity), telemetry external antenna, a solar panel and wind turbine mounted upon a mast. It records temperatures (Maximum, minimum & average), relative humidity, wind speed & direction and solar radiation hourly. It also calculates by itself the hourly reference evapotranspiration (ET0). This data is then sent using mobile phone technology to a secure remote (cloud) server twice a day (can be programmed as desired in terms of data collected and transmission) where the data is post-processed.

Research Team

Engr. Faakhar Raza

Regional Director (Incharge)

Email: faakharraza@gmail.com
Phone: +92 42 35320484

Research Team

Officials	Contact	Area of Expertise
Engr. Khuram Ejaz Deputy Director	Email: khuramkamboh@hotmail.com	Water Management
Mr. Abid Bin Nazir Deputy Director	Email: abn1au@yahoo.com.au	Groundwater Investigation
Engr. Zia ul Haq Deputy Director	Email: engr.zia88@yahoo.com	Smart Agriculture Water Management, Groundwater, Automatic Data Acquisition System (Telemetry) GIS/RIS
Ms. Shazia Ghaffar Research Officer	Email: shazia-ghaffar@hotmail.com	Technical Manager/In charge Lab Reviewing and updating test Method Manuals
Engr. Muhammad Hassan Assistant Director	Email: engineer_hassan@yahoo.com	Water Management
Muhammad Armaghan Instrumentation Officer	Tel: 051-9101282-83 (Ext 243) Email: muhammadarmaghan772@gmail.com	Instrumentation Design
Dr. Sajjad Ahmad, Research Officer (Incharge Sahiwal WQL)	Ph. 03015306252, 0409200070 Email: hsajjadahmad@hotmail.com	Water Quality
Mr. Tajamal Hussain, Research Officer (Incharge Sialkot WQL)	Ph. 0523611316, 03016223193 Email: tajammalpcrwr07@gmail.com	Water Quality
Mr. Waqar Hussain, Research Officer (Incharge Faisalabad WQL)	Ph. 03324429027, +92419210456 Email: waqar1214@gmail.com	Water Quality
Mr. Amir Ijaz, Research Officer (Incharge Faisalabad WQL)	Ph. 0345-7227676, 0304-7038373 Email: amirijaz79@yahoo.com	Water Quality

Research Areas

Water Management and Conservation

1. Research & Demonstration Center

PCRWR established a Research & Demonstration (R&D) Centre in 2005 comprising land of 21 acres to research trials on water conservation strategies for Irrigated Agriculture. The Center is located about 4 km away from Sial interchange on M2 motorway in District Sargodha. Research activities at the Center are focused to enhance water use efficiency (WUE) by introducing adaptable water conservation techniques. Though, drip and sprinkler irrigation system have proved best WUE and saving of water 50-70 percent but its capital and operation cost is challenge of the farmer. PCRWR focuses on adaptable and economical viable techniques like bed and furrow irrigation, zero tillage (sowing of wheat followed by rice) and LASER land leveling by which 20-40 percent of water is saved in wheat and rice crop without compromising the yield. The Centre not only maintained its research impact on the farming community but also expanded its research findings to Punjab Agriculture department. Successful trials have been conducted to test water management technologies especially rice and wheat plantation on beds/ridges, Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) on beds and flat fields.

Rice on Beds

Report on Rice Cultivation on Beds

Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) on Beds

Report on Water Conservation through Bed Plantation in Rice Wheat Crop

Citrus, Guava & Grapes Orchard at R&D Farm

2. Groundwater Management (Electrical Resistivity Survey)

Prior to exploitation of groundwater, Electrical Resistivity Survey (ERS) is the most widely used technique to determine the target drilling and identify the nature and thickness of the aquifers in the areas of interest. The art of the state equipment followed by the interpretation of results by computer software is available with Regional office PCRWR for quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the sub-surface water. Technical assistance regarding groundwater investigation and management is provided to public, private and industrial sectors in groundwater and geo-technical disciplines on no loss no profit basis.

a. Groundwater Investigation through Electrical Resistivity Survey

b. Managed Aquifer Recharge

About 60% irrigation, 90% drinking and 100% industrial water dependent on groundwater. The gap between abstraction and recharge has cast lowering of water table depth especially in large cities. Rainwater is an important source of recharging the groundwater and is used for many purposes including irrigation and farming. Whereas situation in Pakistan is reverse, during rainy season; water sweeps over roofs, streets, parking lots and makes its way towards the drains. Huge amount of fresh water is diverted to the drains where it mixes with sewage and heads straight towards the rivers. At many places, rainwater gathers as ponds and becomes a breeding ground for insects and vectors resulting in outbreak of diseases. Rapid urbanization and high population growth rate drastically increase the water demand for domestic, industrial and agricultural sectors. In Lahore city, 1800 public and private tube wells extracting about 3500 acre-feet water daily. The water level of the city is decreasing by an average of 3.03 feet per annum (WASA). The city encompasses approximately 1014 square kilometers area, receiving average annual rainfall of 630 mm, generating runoff of the 0.52 million are-feet which is disposed-off into the drains without any use at the cost of millions of the rupees. Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources has designed and tested the recharge/invert wells in various parts of the country to divert the rainwater into the sub-surface reservoir (aquifer). The findings revealed that millions of liters of runoff have been added in the aquifer with the following area specific techniques.

Recharge Wells Installed by PCRWR in Major Cities

Recharge Well at Regional Office, Lahore

Recharge Well at Parks Sites and Field Area

3. Crop Water Requirement of different Crops by Lysimeteric Studies

Lysimeter name derived from a Greek word ‘Lysi’ meaning ‘Water’. Lysimeter is an experimental set-up comprising of soil-filled tank in which research can be conducted very precisely under well controlled conditions on almost all aspects of optimal utilization of surface and ground water resources. It is a basic tool to determine crop water requirement, crop coefficient, groundwater contribution, deep percolation, evapo-transpiration, solute transport and other related aspects of water management and sustainability of agricultural lands. Its use has been extended to other scientific fields, like quantitative and qualitative studies of the leaching from waste products or contaminated soils in order to evaluate the environmental impact of these materials. PCRWR has constructed eighteen drainage type Lysimeters (3m x 3m x 6m) at Directorate of Land Reclamation (DLR), Canal Bank Road Mugalpura Lahore in 1974, filled with four representative soils in the Punjab with close collaboration of Punjab Irrigation Department. This was the first lysimeters facility ever established in Pakistan. Regional Office, PCRWR, Lahore has conducted a series of studies to determine the actual water requirement for major crops under various water-table levels.
The function of “Lysimeter Studies on Soil Water Control” was to activate scientific research on various problems related with optimal depth of water table for different crops, irrigation scheduling, attainment of maximum crop yields with optimum use of water and other similar problems connected with land and water use.
At present, a research study is ongoing to determine crop water requirement of rice, maize and wheat crops. This study will help to optimize the irrigation events and formulate irrigation schedule for rice, maize and wheat crops in rice-wheat and maize-wheat cropping systems. Rice, maize and wheat are being used extensively in human and animal food.

Report on Water Requirements of Major Crops in Central Punjab

Report on Determination of Crop Water Requirements

Instrument Designing

Instrument Designing Cell

1. Tensiometer

Use of appropriate soil moisture instruments to monitor soil water status in the root zone of crops is vital for judicious and efficient utilization of available surface and groundwater resources. In Pakistan, use of such instruments is not very common due to high prices of imported instruments. In order to fill the gap, PCRWR established a Cell in its Lahore office for local designing and fabrication of soil moisture instruments (Tensiometer, Water Sampler, Water Bird, and Water Level Indicator) and this office has the facility of troubleshooting and repairing of the instruments.
Soil moisture tensiometer measures the availability or water potential of the soil. This is a vital tool in irrigation scheduling also helpful for common farmers to have optimum irrigation interval. Readings are in units of pressure or more exactly negative pressure or suction expressed as centibars (cbar) or kilo Pascals (kPa).

Components

I. A porous ceramic cup possessing structural strength as well as permeability to water flow.
II. Rigid body tube; fully or partially (at least portion above Vacuum gauge ) transparent so that water within the tensiometer can be easily seen.
III. Vacuum gauge; measures water potential or tension in units of centibars (English system), or kilo Pascal’s (metric units).

(PCRWR) has made the use of tensiometers farmers’ friendly by colored ranges.

Blue: Soil is at saturation.
Green: Sufficient moisture available.
Yellow: Irrigate the field.
Red: Water must be applied without delay

Installations Steps

Step 1. Take de-aired water in bucket. If de-aired water is not available, boil water and then let it cool while covering it with a plastic sheet.
Step 2. Open the cap (lid) of the tensiometer and dip the ceramic cup in the de- aired water for overnight.
Step 3. With an auger, make a hole up to the required installation depth.
Step 4. Fill the tensiometer with the de-aired or boiled water, put the cap back tightly and insert gently into the hole.
Step 5. Refill the hole with the excavated soil gently.
Step 6. Record the reading (cb) when the tensiometer attains equilibrium.
Step 7: Calculate Available Soil Moisture Content, using Soil Moisture Curves

Benefits & Price

Improved plant strength More effective use of water (water efficiency and fertilizer) Reduce irrigation cost Better crop yield.
Rs. 3500 for 1 Feet and Rs 100 per ft extra up to maximum depth of 5 ft.

2. Water Level Indicator

Application

Measure groundwater levels in standpipes (Pizometers/observation wells).

The water level indicator consists of a probe, a graduated cable or tape, and a cable reel with built-in electronics. The probe is lowered down the standpipe until light and buzzer indicate contact with water. Depth-to-water measurements read from cable or tape.

Uses & Price

To monitor water table fluctuation during different months of the year.
Rs. 18,000/- for 100 Feet

3. Water Bird

Introduction

WaterBird is a device to keep an eye on the water level in over head tanks, specially designed and engineered to avert overflow of water from the tanks. Thus water, energy and money is saved.

Uses: When water is filled up to the level required in the tank, WaterBird alarm buzzer will sound to get your attention for switching off the button immediately. With the help of this device it will become easier for you to work at home without paying attention to the over flow of precious water from the tank and prevent spoilage of the building.

Contents & Price

Contents: The device consists of the following components:

- - Float Ball
  - Tension Switch
  - Adopter with Buzzer
  - Wire (50 ft included)
  Price: Rs. 1000/-

Water Quality Labs.

Water Quality Monitoring& Mitigation

Pakistan is facing problem of declining water availability and quality. Access to safe drinking water is critical health issue and challenge for the state. Drinking water sources, both surface and groundwater are contaminated with coliforms, toxic metals and pesticides throughout the country.
The Water quality laboratories at Regional Office, PCRWR Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Gujranwala, Sialkot& Mianwali are well equipped for the analysis of drinking, irrigation and waste water. In a short span of time, it has upgraded its infrastructure and improving the quality of services rendered to general public/clients with its skilled and dedicated manpower.

Analytical Capability/Facilities

A. Microbiological Analysis

Total Coliforms, Fecal Coliforms, E. Coli, Presence/Absence test for microbiology

B. Chemical Analysis

i.Physico-Aesthetic Parameter: Color, Odor, Taste, Electrical Conductivity, pH, Turbidity, Total Dissolved Solids, Total Suspended Solid
ii.Major Chemical Parameters: Alkalinity, Bicarbonate, Calcium, Carbonate, Chloride, Fluoride, Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine, Total Hardness, Magnesium Hardness, Nitrate (as N), Potassium, Sodium, Sulphate,
iii.Trace Metals Parameters: Arsenic,Fluoride

C. Wastewater Analysis

Dissolved solids (TDS), Suspended solids, BOD, COD

Water Quality Laboratories Under Regional Office Lahore

Water Quality Laboratory, Lahore

Madam Shahzia Ghaffar, Research Officer

6km off Thokar Niaz Baig, Main Raiwind Road, Lahore
Email: shazia-ghaffar@hotmail.com

Ph. +924235321702

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Water Quality Laboratory, Sahiwal

Dr. Sajjad Ahmad, Lab Incharge (WQL)

Water Quality Laboratory, Jhal Road, Sahiwal
Email: chsajjadahmad@hotmail.com

Ph. 03015306252

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Water Quality Laboratory, Sargodha

Mr. Khuram Ejaz, Deputy Director (WQL)

WQ Laboratory, Satellite Town, Sargodha, Punjab
Email: khuramkamboh@hotmail.com

Ph. 0300-6605803

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Water Quality Laboratory, Gujranwala

Mr. Amir Ijaz, Lab Incharge (WQL)

Peoples Colony, Kashmir Road near Sasta Model Bazaar, W-Block, Gujranwala
Email: amirijaz79@yahoo.com

Ph. 0345-7227676,
0304-7038373

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Water Quality Laboratory, Mianwali

Muhammad Farhan Khan, Lab Incharge (WQL)

Mohallah Munawarabad, Near Muslim Colony Mianwali
Email: Farhankhan.pcrwr@gmail.com

Ph. 0345-5838325,
0459-920311

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Water Quality Laboratory, Faisalabad

Mr. Waqar Hussain, Research Officer (WQL)

Jaranwala Khuranwala Bypass, Faisalabad, Punjab
Email: waqar1214@gmail.com

Ph. 03324429027,
+92419210456

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Water Quality Laboratory, Sialkot

Mr. Tajamal Hussain, Lab Incharge (WQL)

Water lab, PCRWR, Inside Hockey Ground, Pasrur Road, Sialkot
Email: tajammalpcrwr07@gmail.com

Ph. 0523611316,
03016223193

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Training Programs

Adopt a School Program

Two schools adopted under Adopt a school program

1.Federal Government Primary School for Boys Sher shah Colony Lahore

2.Govt Girls High School D Block, Sher Shah Colony Raiwind Road Lahore

Schools’ administrative heads were invited for World Water Day celebration in PCRWR Lahore office
Liquid soap dispensers were distributed in girls and boys schools for achieving WASH goal of proper hygiene and Covid SOPs
During visit of Boys school, a brief lecture was delivered to students about water conservation practices and water quality issues n remedial measures
PCRWR printed story books and reading material was shared and discussed with students of PREP and 1 class
Filtration plants are working as per standards in both schools and reports of water quality are safe

NAVTTC Course

Signing of MOU for NAVTTC course “Water Quality Testing & Treatment Technician” Batch II Under Prime Minister Hunermand Programme between NAVTTC Lahore and Punjab laboratories

NAVTTC course started on 14th of June 2021 and will end in November after 6 months duration. Course will include training of participants on instruments and parameters of water quality, treatment options and on job training of students in Bottled water Industry, Treatment plants and WASAS ,PHEDs laboratories .Course will empower students to set their future goals and enable them to self-employ and absorb in water sector.

Library

Library, Documentation and Information Centre

PCRWR has precious library having large information and data resources not only for water sector but also for agriculture industry and social sectors.
Major functions of this Section are to collect process and disseminate national information related to water resources through library, databank, and regular/occasional publications of the PCRWR and other organizations. There are three sub-sections of LDIC, which provide the following facilitates in order to support the research and development activities.

Library: A collection of more than twelve thousand books, journals proceedings and technical / research reports on water resources and related fields.