PESHAWAR: The local government, elections and rural development department has decided to install “flow meters” in four major cities under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Project (KPCIP) as part of its water conservation efforts.

The department is also installing supervisory control and data acquisition systems on all tubewells and replacing rusted pipelines in Peshawar, Kohat, Abbottabad and Mingora under KPCIP, according to officials.

They told Dawn that the initiative was meant to manage non-revenue water, which was extracted and pumped into the system but didn’t generate revenue and was largely wasted at the consumer end.

Officials said the water table in Peshawar, Kohat, Abbottabad and Mingora was under severe stress due to population growth and worsening climate impacts.

Officials say move meant to manage ‘non-revenue’ water

They said flow meters would help monitor consumption and control over-extraction, which in turn would reduce energy use and operational costs for Water and Sanitation Services Companies (WSSCs). Moreover, lower extraction, they added, could help slow the depletion of groundwater.

Alongside metering, KPCIP is replacing old and rusted pipelines to reduce leakages and improve drinking water quality. According to project data, 353 kilometres of pipeline are being replaced in Kohat, 577 kilometres in Mingora, 15 kilometres in Peshawar and 200 kilometres in Abbottabad.

Data obtained from WSSCs shows that groundwater levels in the four cities have been steadily declining and could fall beyond natural recharge capacity if corrective steps are not taken. As a result, utilities are struggling to meet demand, particularly during peak summer months. To reduce losses within the system and at the consumer end, authorities are modernising infrastructure through both metering and pipeline replacement, according to officials.

The data shows that water demand has already exceeded supply in major cities.

WSSC Mingora currently extracts about seven million gallons per day (MGD) against a demand of 11MGD. Similarly, WSSC Abbottabad extracts 3.5MGD while demand stands at 7MGD, a gap largely attributed to declining aquifers. The remaining demand is either met through private borewells or the provision of water tankers.

Officials at the WSSCs also said that due to over-extraction, many tubewells have gone dry, leading to a caving-in phenomenon.

A 2024 study, titled “Impact of Land Use Dynamics on Groundwater Table in Abbottabad City, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” found that the city’s built-up area expanded from 1,575.1 hectares in 2008 to 1,897.5 hectares in 2018. As a result, groundwater levels in different parts of the city are declining at rates ranging from 0.17 to 4 feet per year, the study noted.

Similarly, another study, titled “Impact of Built Environment on Groundwater Depletion in Peshawar, Pakistan,” shows that between 1981 and 2017, population growth pushed daily freshwater demand from 56 million litres to more than 213 million litres, nearly quadrupling consumption.

During the same period, built-up areas expanded from 3.7 per cent to 16.27 per cent of total land, reducing infiltration by about four per cent.

“As concrete spread, recharge shrank groundwater replenishment declined from 108.75 mm per year in 1981 to 91.35 mm per year in 2014, tightening the squeeze on already stressed aquifers,” the study said.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2026