Introduction

Water treatment is generally referred to the potable water production from raw water and waste
water treatment is the standard set for effluent quality, where the pollution could be from human
waste, industry, agricultural waste etc.i In addition, Lahore Cantonment Board, Walton
Cantonment Board, Defense Housing Authority, Model Town Society, Pakistan Railway and a
large number of private housing schemes are responsible for supplying water to their respective
areas. In rural areas of the district of Lahore, the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED)
is responsible for the installation of water supply schemes.ii

Drinking water
The Lahore aquifer is broadly viewed as a single contiguous, unconfined aquifer. Groundwater
for drinking purposes is extracted from a depth of 120-200 metres (m). It is pumped for Lahores
domestic, industrial and commercial purposes. In order to deal with the vagaries of surface water
supplies, more than 10,000 tube wells have been installed for agricultural purposes. The average
annual rainfall of Lahore is 715 mm. However, its recharge to groundwater in urban areas is
minimal due to urbanization. In general, groundwater discharge is higher than recharge, which is
the main reason for the rapid depletion of groundwater in the city.
The Ravi River is the most polluted river in Pakistan. It receives untreated domestic and
industrial wastewaters through five outfalls and two natural surface drains located between a
stretch of 98 km between Ravi Siphon and Balloki Headworks.iii Major hindrance in treating this
wastewater is the huge capital and operational cost, inherent process complexity and energy
extensiveness of conventional wastewater treatment technologies. Therefore, there is a need to
investigate the option for a low cost treatment method for the city of Lahore.iv Water
contamination is one of the foremost ecological issues in Pakistan especially in urban areas. The
discharge of industrial, commercial, domestic and other untreated wastewater into rivers, streams
and other water bodies is one of the main causes of water pollution. Lahore city is a case of an
extensive range of wastewater related issues, vital health and environmental risks, ecosystem and
challenges. River Ravi at downstream of Lahore is the most polluted river among the main rivers
in Punjab as the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) discharges wastewater of the entire city
directly to the Ravi through its twelve disposal stations. Consequently, a severe depletion of
Dissolved Oxygen (DO) level over a reach of 62 km occurs between Lahore & Baloki because of
maximum inflows of wastewater in this length. A substantial quantity of wastewater
amalgamation into Ravi without treatment is a grave risk to the ecosystem particularly the
groundwater source. According to a study, the increasing tendency of contaminants in the river
can become more hazardous and may cause severe menace to quality of groundwater in the
coming days which is the potential source of drinking water for Lahore cityv.

i
http://water.worldbank.org/shw-resource-guide/infrastructure/menu-technical-options/wastewater-treatment
ii
https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/pakistan/documents/press_corner/20141204_01_en.pdf
iii
Haider H & Ali W Development of Dissolved Oxygen Model for a Highly Variable Flow River: Case Study of
Ravi River in Pakistan, Environmental Modeling and Assessment, 15, 6, 583-599 (2010).
iv
World Bank, Activated Sludge Treatment Process (2013), [available at:http://water.worldbank.org/shw-resource-
guide/infrastructure/menu-technical-options/activated-sludge].
v
http://pwon.org.pk/picFile/Existing%20Situation%20of%20Sewerage%20in%20Lahore%20City%20and%20its%2
0Impacts%20on%20River%20Ravi.pdf