MANAGEMENT OF WASTEWATER FOR IRRIGATION IN THE

SOUTHERN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Y. Matsuno 1 , W. van der Hoek 2 , J. Ensink3 , M. R. Aslam3 , and M. Sarfraz3

Abstract

Although wastewater irrigation is often an informal practice in many urban and peri-urban
areas, it has received more recognition in recent years due to growing populations and the
increased scarcity of fresh water. Reusing wastewater for irrigation could be considered an
alternative to disposal of surface water. It can provide a reliable supply of irrigation water and
rich nutrients to the field. However, human health risks need to be avoided.

A case study was conducted in 2000 in Haroonabad, a town located in southern Punjab,
Pakistan, to assess the advantages and disadvantages of wastewater irrigation from different
perspectives. The town has a population of approximately 80,000 and an estimated 5,000
m3 /day of wastewater reaches the central sewage system. This untreated wastewater is then
directly applied to nearby fields from several outlets. Vegetables comprise 80% of the
cultivated area in the wastewater-irrigated fields, while non-wastewater irrigators commonly
grow cotton, wheat, and sugarcane.

The study revealed that farmers using wastewater gained greater benefits than farmers using
non-wastewater due to higher productivity. On the negative side, the content of nutrients in
the wastewater was higher than that required for crops and, in fact, the concentrations of these
nutrients in the groundwater beneath the irrigated fields were high. The study found an
increased prevalence of hookworm infections among farmers who are in constant contact with
wastewater over an extensive period of time, but no other direct negative health impacts were
detected.

Irrigation with untreated wastewater is practiced around most cities in Pakistan because of its
high productivity and its role as a conventional method of pollution control. There is a need to
take a new look at wastewater irrigation and come up with realistic options for maximizing
the benefit and reducing the risks under the given social and economic conditions.

Introduction

In many countries, untreated wastewater is disposed of to nearby surface water bodies like
rivers and streams that are invariably used for various purposes further downstream. An

1
Corresponding author, Researcher, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), PO Box 2075,
Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tel: 94010867-404, e-mail: iwmi@cgiar.org
2
Program Leader, Health and Environment Program, IWMI
3
Research Associate, IWMI-Pakistan, 12 KM Multan Road, Thokar Niaz Baig, Lahore ,Pakistan, Tel: 92-42-
541-0059, e-mail: iwmi-pak@cgiar.org
ICID International Workshop on Wastewater Reuse Management
19, 20 September 2001, Seoul, Rep. Korea
option to reduce the pollution of these water bodies, is to reuse the wastewater close to the
town for irrigation.

Wastewater irrigation is often an informal practice, but is receiving more recognition in recent
years due to growing populations in urban areas and the increased scarcity of fresh water,
especially in arid and semi-arid regions. However, this practice is often associated with local
health and environmental risks owing to its high contents of nutrients, heavy metals, and
fecally transmitted pathogens. From a public health point of view there is a trade-off between
the local health risks when untreated wastewater is used for irrigation and the health risks for
a potentially much larger population when untreated wastewater is disposed of in surface
water.

Local users recognize wastewater as a cheap and reliable source of water and nutrients for
crop production. For these reasons, wastewater irrigation has become a widely accepted if
unregulated practice in Pakistan and many other countries. In 12 cities surveyed in the
southern Punjab, Pakistan, vegetables were the most common crops, including root crops like
potato, carrot and radish because these fetch high prices in the nearby urban markets. The
wastewater is valued by the farmers because of its nutrient content and reliability of supply
and is often purchased from the municipality. The general tendency is for a small group of
farmers to control the water, distributing it among themselves and later to others. The
quantities of water used and disposed of are unknown in all the cities. In all cases wastewater
is untreated, and no regulations exist for what can be grown with wastewater.

This paper presents the findings from an interdisciplinary study conducted by the
International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in the southern Punjab, Pakistan, to assess
wastewater irrigation, from an irrigation, health, and environmental point of view.

Materials and methods

Haroonabad town is located in the district of Bahawal Nagar, southern Punjab, Pakistan
situated close to the India border and at the edge of the Cholistan desert. The town has a
population of approximately 80,000. The climate is arid with 160 mm of annual rainfall,
which is mostly concentrated in the monsoon period from June to August. Temperature
ranges from 00 C in January to 480 C in July, and the annual potential evaporation is around
2,500 mm. Soil in the study area is sandy loam.

Water supply to the Haroonabad town and surroundings for agriculture, industrial and
drinking purposes depends entirely on water from the Hakra 4R irrigation canal, one of the
distributary canals originating from the Ravi river (Figure 1). Groundwater is brackish with an
electrical conductivity (EC) normally ranging from 3 to 5 mS/cm and is therefore not suitable
for any use. At present, the water supply scheme consists of two permanent connections with
the Hakra 4-R canal. One scheme consists of five sedimentation tanks, filter beds, clear water
well, pumping house and overhead storage, and several main and lateral pipelines. According
to the municipal water supply company about 80% of the households have a connection and
the design is to supply 182 liters of water per capita per day. The other much smaller water

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19, 20 September 2001, Seoul, Rep. Korea
supply system exclusively provides water to the ‘housing colony,’ located within Haroonabad
(Fig. 1).

In 1965 a drainage scheme was constructed, comprising of open surface drains and concrete
pipe sewers in the various parts of town. These drains and sewage pipes were connected to a
main outfall drain, and wastewater was collected at one central point in two collection tanks
from where the sewage was pumped out of the system into an irrigation scheme. Due to the
high groundwater levels, 1.20-1.50 metres below ground level, the existing sewer lines do not
function according to design. There are three waste disposal stations in the town. The main
disposal scheme at the bus stand is the biggest of the three; two pumps (40 HP) operate 12
hours and irrigate an area of 113 ha. The two other schemes are smaller and irrigate an area of
3 ha (housing colony) and 40 ha (Figure 1). The total discharge from the main site is
approximately 3500 m3 /day of raw wastewater. The other sites contribute an additional 1500
m3 /day of raw sewage.

N
Wastewater areas
113 ha.
Road
Railway line
Muslim
Colony

Bus
Stand

Haroonabad City

3 ha. Hashim
Colony
Housing
Colony 1 ha

Canal 4/R

72/4R 73/4R
5 ha. 34 ha.

Fig. 1 Schematic of the Haroonabad town and wastewater irrigation field

The wastewater used for irrigation consists of untreated sewage, storm water and industrial
wastewater. There are no major industries in Haroonabad but small industries like ice
manufacturing, silver and gold processing cloth coloring, delineating of cotton and car
repair/washing dispose their wastes in the sewage system. Bleaching powder, nitric and
sulfuric acids together with various petrol products and other chemicals also end up in the
wastewater.

Irrigation, either with raw sewage or with a combination of sewage and canal water, takes
place at all three locations, north, south, and east of the Haroonabad town. Some fields have
been only recently irrigated with wastewater while others at the main site have received
wastewater for over thirty years. All watercourses in the field are unlined and no drains are
present.
ICID International Workshop on Wastewater Reuse Management
19, 20 September 2001, Seoul, Rep. Korea
Background information was obtained from government offices, research institutions and
from discussions with the officials from relevant agencies and farmers in and around the
town. In the period from May to September 2000, irrigation application to 9 plots in the
largest wastewater area were monitored using a cutthroat flume. To estimate irrigation
application efficiencies, average soil moisture content was measured in the surface soil layer
one meter deep, before and 24 hours after irrigation events using a TRIME-FMTM, which
gives direct readings on soil moisture content. The irrigation application efficiency was
calculated as a percentage of the sum of evapotranspiration and soil water remaining in the
surface soil layer 24 hours after the irrigation event divided by the depth of irrigation applied.

For water quality analysis, wastewater samples were taken every two hours for a 24-hour
period at the pumping station. This sampling was conducted twice. Water samples were also
collected from the canal and from shallow groundwater through 12 piezometers that were
installed in the middle of every 10-hectare square in the area. Samples were stored in acid
washed plastic bottles after collection and sealed until analysis in the local field laboratory.

Analyses of nutrient concentrations were done by using a portable spectrophotometer (Hach

DR/2010, USA) following the guidelines of the handbook (Hach Manual, 1997). Heavy metal
analyses of water and soil samples were conducted in the Central High Tech Laboratory,
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Water samples were analyzed for eleven different
heavy metals by a Hitachi Z-8200 atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Details of the health
component of the study are reported elsewhere (Feenstra, et al., 2000).

Wastewater irrigation practice

Once the wastewater enters the sewerage system, the Municipal Committee (MC) of
Haroonabad retains the title of this water. From the disposal stations, farmers acquire their
entitlement by purchasing or through free access negotiated with the MC. The entire title to
use water is awarded to the highest bidder who is responsible for payment to the MC. The
farmers who have physical access to the wastewater disposal station through the public
watercourse collude and register a single bid. At present there are 8 landowners that benefit
from the wastewater, as their lands are attached to the government-constructed watercourse,
which transports wastewater. They organize an informal meeting when the auction is
announced. In this meeting, the farmers allocate the wastewater among themselves and define
rights. Then the farmers allocate and distribute wastewater in proportion to land, with some
adjustments for different soil types and cropping patterns, through their own informal social
organisation.

The landowners themselves decide where to use this water. They also use canal water from
the Hakra 4-R canal. Normally wastewater is allocated on a weekly rotational schedule. The
wastewater from smaller schemes is not auctioned.

Vegetables comprise 80% of the cultivated area in the wastewater-irrigated fields while non-
wastewater irrigators commonly grow cotton, wheat, and sugarcane. The cropping intensities
for wastewater irrigation are 300 % per year while in non-wastewater irrigation it is 200 % at

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19, 20 September 2001, Seoul, Rep. Korea
the maximum. Wastewater irrigators grow crops all year around and apply wastewater around
50 times during a year, while non-wastewater irrigation is applied approximately 30 times.
This is due to the fact that canal water supply is often limited and unpredictable while
wastewater is supplied continuously. Table 1 show the difference in irrigation application
between wastewater and canal water irrigation. Because of the higher cropping intensity, the
annual application depth is higher in the wastewater irrigation, but the depth in one irrigation
event is higher in non-wastewater irrigation.

Table 1 Comparison of cropping intensity, irrigation application depth, and application efficiency between
wastewater and canal water irrigation

Cropping Irrigation application Application

intensity (%) (mm/yr.) Efficiency (%)
Average Std Average Std
Wastewater irrigation 300 3170 1510 53 20
Canal irrigation 200 2750 450 60 23

Table 2 shows the comparison of water quality between the wastewater and canal water. The
average concentrations of EC, Nitrogen (N), Chromium (Cr), and Cobalt (Co) exceeded the
target values for irrigation use (Dep. of Water Affairs and Forestry, South Africa, 1996),
while in the canal water N and Co were above the target value. It is noted that some metal
concentrations were higher in the canal water when compared to the concentrations in the
wastewater and this suggests that no significant heavy metal pollutants originate from the
Haroonabad town.

Although some metal concentrations were higher than the target concentrations for irrigation
use, all, except nitrogen, were well below the maximum acceptable concentration for fine-
textured soil (Dep. of Water Affairs and Forestry, South Africa, 1996).

Since wastewater is rich in the nutrients N, phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), farmers apply
less fertilizer on wastewater irrigated field than on canal water irrigated fields per season. The
nutrient contribution of wastewater and canal water for crop growth was estimated using the
application data (Table 1) and water quality data (Table2). Results are shown in Figure 2.

It is clear that, with wastewater irrigation, excessive amounts of nutrients are applied to the
field. On average, nitrogen application by wastewater is more than 7 times higher than by
canal water, while P and K applications by wastewater are more than 20 and 3 times,
respectively. It is noted that the nutrient contents in the canal water was much higher than that
usually found in natural water bodies. This is likely caused by waste that is regularly dumped
into the canal from the towns and cities located upstream of the Hakra 4R canal.

Figure 2 also shows the recommended dose of N-P-K for cauliflower and cotton, widely
cultivated crops in the study area. Except for the amount of P recommended for cauliflower,
in all other cases N, P, and K amounts from wastewater application were in excess of
recommended amounts. Despite a high nutrient content in both wastewater and canal water,

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19, 20 September 2001, Seoul, Rep. Korea
the farmers apply artificial fertilizer. Farmers who use wastewater apply on average 130 kg of
nitrogen and 20 kg of phosphorus respectively per hectare per cropping season, and 300 kg of
nitrogen and 70 kg of phosphorus respectively per hectare on canal water irrigated fields.
Negative impacts as a result of excessive nitrogen application such as stimulation of excessive
growth and poor quality of crop products were not reported.

Table 2 Water quality in canal water and wastewater

Canal Water Wastewater

Unit Average (std) Average (std)
Discharge l/sec 77.85 (14.08)
o
Temperature C 24.77(6.73) 28.92 (0.58)
PH 7.43 (0.05) 6.90 (0.27)
Electrical conductivity, EC mS/cm 0.37 (0.18) 4.75* (2.05)
Dissolved Oxygen, DO mg/l 7.73 (1.28) 3.46 (1.46)
Nitrogen (total), N mg/l 8.00* (2.00) 81.00* (21.57)
Phosphorus (total), P mg/l 0.23 (0.09) 8.07 (2.50)
Potassium, K mg/l 7.10 (2.09) 34.00 (2.65)
Calcium, Ca mg/l 22.40 (0.00) 30.50 (1.94)
Magnesium, Mg mg/l 37.50 (0.00) 71.83 (25.58)
Manganese, Mn mg/l 0.12 (0.03) 0.06 (0.01)
Nickel, Ni mg/l 0.17 (0.12) 0.15 (0.05)
Chromium, Cr mg/l 0.03 (0.02) 0.23* (0.05)
Lead, Pb mg/l 0.13 (0.02) 0.04 (0.03)
Cobalt, Co mg/l 0.09* (0.04) 0.06* (0.02)
Cadmium, Cd mg/l 0.02 (0.00) 0.01 (0.00)
Iron, Fe mg/l 0.01 (0.00) 0.21 (0.08)
Copper, Cu mg/l 0.12 (0.00) ND**
Zinc, Zn mg/l 0.10 (0.00) ND**

* Value exceeds the target values for irrigation use (Dep. of Water Affairs and Forestry, South Africa, 1996)
** Not detectable

The option to reduce excessive nutrient application is to dilute the wastewater with canal
water or use wastewater and canal water conjunctively. By a simple estimation considering
the application efficiency, wastewater can be diluted approximately 4 times to reach the
suitable amount of nitrogen content, and the deficit of phosphorus can be supplemented by
artificial fertilizer. In this way a much larger field could be irrigated with wastewater and
more farmers could benefit. Still, it would be necessary to further assess the feasibility of this
approach taking into consideration the infrastructure, temporal availability of canal water,
timing and the amount of waste and canal waters, and the type and amount of fertilizer
application.

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19, 20 September 2001, Seoul, Rep. Korea
 1000
N P
864
800 100 86
Recommended N for Cauliflower
Recommended P for Cauliflower
(123 kg/ha) 80 (106 kg/ha)
600
60 Recommended P for cotton
400 Recommended N for cotton (30 kg/ha)
(114 kg/ha) 40
200 110
20 6
0 0
Wastewater (kg/ha) Canal water (kg/ha) Wastewater (kg/ha) Canal water (kg/ha)

400 K 363
350 Recommended K for Cauliflower
(101 kg/ha)
300
250 195
200 Recommended K for
150 cotton (62 kg/ha)

100
50
0
Wastewater (kg/ha) Canal water (kg/ha)

Fig. 2 Comparison of seasonal N-P-K application by wastewater and canal water irrigation. The two lines
represent the amounts of recommended N-P-K application for cauliflower and cotton.

The main benefit for the farmers in using wastewater irrigation is the higher crop productivity
and profitability. The difference in profitability is reflected by the difference in the land rent,
which is almost 5 to 6 times higher for wastewater irrigated lands than for canal irrigated
lands. The reasons are higher cropping intensity due to reliable water supply, the cultivation
of higher valued crops, easy access to the nearby urban market, and lower artificial fertilizer
input. Higher yields are also reported from wastewater irrigation in Haroonabad and
elsewhere in Pakistan (Chughtai and Ahmed, 1996). The economic advantages should be
further analyzed by an economic analysis, which is currently being undertaken by IWMI.

Environmental and human health concerns in wastewater irrigation

The major quality concern of the farmers that are irrigating fields with wastewater was the
presence of soap and detergents in the water, which were perceived to affect crop growth
negatively and to cause soil salinity. The farmers generally adopted appropriate agronomic
practices by sowing crops on beds rather than on flat land.

The average application efficiency of 53 % (Table 1) in the wastewater irrigation implies that
more than 40% of applied wastewater, which contain high amounts of the nutrients, go below
the root zone, and some of it reaches the groundwater. The groundwater table is high, but
before the introduction of the canal irrigation system in the 1930s, used to be lower than 30
meter below the surface but has risen drastically in 70% of the area (Khalid and Riaz, 1992).
ICID International Workshop on Wastewater Reuse Management
19, 20 September 2001, Seoul, Rep. Korea
Figure 3 shows the groundwater quality in the wastewater and canal water irrigation fields,
indicating that groundwater has no beneficial use. It is obvious that wastewater irrigation
affects ground water quality below the field.

20.00

15.00

10.00

5.00

0.00
pH EC (mS/cm) NO3-N (mg/l)

Under wastewater irr. Under canal water irr.

Fig. 3 pH, electrical conductivity, and nitrate (NO3) in groundwater under wastewater and canal water irrigation
fields.

The sites where wastewater had been applied for the past 30 years showed higher levels of
heavy metals in the soil when compared with an area irrigated with regular canal water.
However, the heavy metal levels did not exceed international guidelines and no significant
amounts of heavy metals were found in the groundwater. Apparently, in this town of about
80,000 people with relatively little industrial activity, accumulation of heavy metals is not a
major issue.

The main human health risk of wastewater irrigation is infection with fecally transmitted
worms. The prevalence of intestinal worm infections was much higher among farmers using
wastewater than among farmers using canal water (Feenstra, et al., 2000). Especially the
prevalence of hookworm infection was extremely high by Pakistani standards, with almost
80% of male wastewater farmers infected (Fig. 4).

Conclusion

Farmers in Haroonabad consider wastewater a valuable resource because of its high

productivity and profitability. The municipal council is aware of the value of the water and
auctions the wastewater. This is a win-win situation for all the stakeholders with very few
incentives to invest in treatment facilities even if there are certain negative impacts.

Untreated wastewater irrigation poses serious risks which cannot be ignored. However,
wastewater reuse is likely to become more important as a combined strategy for water
conservation and pollution prevention. The many advantages have to be weighed against the
potential negative effects, such as health risks for the irrigators and consumers of vegetables

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19, 20 September 2001, Seoul, Rep. Korea
irrigated with wastewater, contamination of groundwater with nitrates, and build-up of heavy
metals in the soil.

90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Hookworm Ascaris lumbricoides

male farmworkers exposed male farmworkers unexposed

children exposed children unexposed

Fig. 4 Prevalence of intestinal parasites among irrigation workers exposed and not exposed to wastewater and
among children below the age of 12 in the villages around Haroonabad. The data are based on 132
exposed and 151 unexposed stool samples in the villages.

In low-income countries with insufficient resources for investment in wastewater treatment

and lack of capacity to enforce legislation, untreated wastewater is reused wherever this is
attractive to farmers. The reality is that farmers will take a health risk and continue to use
wastewater when there is an opportunity of a great benefit. Rather than jumping to the
conclusion that treatment facilities should be provided or strict legislation enforced, there is a
need to take a new look at wastewater irrigation and come up with realistic options for
maximizing the benefit and reducing the risks under the given social and economic
conditions.

References

Chughti, H.I.D. and K. Ahmed, 1996. Wastewater Reuse in Urban Agriculture in Arid and
Semi-Arid Regions. Pakistan Academy of Science, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, South Africa, 1996. South African Water Quality
Guidelines (second edition). Volume 4. Agricultural Use: Irrigation. Department of Water
Affairs and Forestry. P199.
Feenstra, S, R. Hussain, W. van der Hoek, 2000. Health Risks of Irrigation with Untreated
Urban Wastewater in the Southern Punjab, Pakistan. Institute of Public Health, Lahore and
Pakistan Program, International Water Management Institute, Lahore. Report No. 107.
International Water Management Institute, Lahore office, Pakistan. P13.

ICID International Workshop on Wastewater Reuse Management

19, 20 September 2001, Seoul, Rep. Korea
Federal Water Management Cell, 1997. On Farm Water Management Manual, Volume VI,
Irrigation Agronomy. Federal Water Management Cell, Ministry of Food, Agriculture &
Livestock. Government of Pakistan, Islamabad. P345.
Hach Manual, 1997. Water Analysis handbook. Hach Company. Loveland, Colorado, USA.
Khalid, A and M. Riaz, 1992. A preliminary report on groundwater studies along Hakara
canal and 3 R distributary near Haroonabad town district Bahawalnagar: Hydrology
Directorate, WAPDA, Lahore, Pakistan.

ICID International Workshop on Wastewater Reuse Management

19, 20 September 2001, Seoul, Rep. Korea