Water Resources Engineering Laboratory

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, IIT Delhi

Advancing research and education in sustainable water management

Overview

The Water Resources Engineering Laboratory (WREL) at the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, IIT Delhi, is a hub for hands-on learning, advanced research, and innovation in water resources for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The lab provides a strong foundation in hydrologic measurement, hydrological processes, water distribution, pumps, turbines, hydraulics, sediment transport, open channel flows, groundwater flow, water quality, remote sensing, and GIS, equipping students with practical skills essential for addressing real-world water management challenges. It offers diverse physical experiments and computational simulations to enable students to understand and analyze complex water-related processes.

Beyond education, the lab serves as a platform for cutting-edge research and innovation, integrating remote sensing, hydrological and hydraulic modeling, machine learning, and climate change studies to explore sustainable water management solutions. With a focus on experiential learning, the lab fosters critical thinking and problem-solving skills, preparing students for careers in water resources engineering. Through structured coursework, guided projects, and interdisciplinary collaboration, WREL ensures students gain both theoretical knowledge and practical expertise while contributing to advancements in water resources research and technology.

Experiments

💧 Hydraulics

  • Determine the coefficient of discharge (Cd) of a rectangular weir in open channel flow.
  • Determine Manning's roughness coefficient for an open channel at uniform depth.
  • Determine friction factor (f) and pipe roughness coefficient for water flow in pipelines of different diameters.
  • Determine the coefficient of discharge (Cd) of a siphon spillway in open channel flow.
  • Determine Chezy’s constant (c) and friction factor (f) for an open channel.
  • Compare pressure losses across expansions, bends, and elbows in a pipeline system.
  • Verify the Belanger momentum equation by determining energy losses in a hydraulic jump.
  • Understand the working principle of a propeller turbine by obtaining performance characteristics for different flow rates.
  • Investigate the operational principles of a Pelton turbine under varying flow rates.
  • Investigate water hammer pressure.

🔬 Advanced Hydraulics

  • Determine the specific gravity of iron ore/fly ash.
  • Determine pH values of iron ore/fly ash slurry at different solid concentrations.
  • Develop the particle size distribution (PSD) curve for iron ore/fly ash samples.
  • Estimate the static settled concentration of iron ore/fly ash slurry experimentally.
  • Study the rheological behavior of iron ore/fly ash slurry.
  • Determine friction factor and pipe roughness in a pipeline system.
  • Model multiphase (slurry) flow using CFD Ansys Fluent.

🧪 Water Quality

  • Determine the concentration of a known chemical substance in a solution.
  • Determine water quality parameters.
  • Determine wastewater characteristics.

🌧️ Hydrology

  • Understand the relation between rainfall and runoff using the water budget equation for a simple catchment.
  • Use TRMM GPM MATLAB for analyzing and modeling hydrological processes with statistical and probabilistic approaches.
  • Use QGIS to delineate a watershed for a given outlet using a digital elevation model.
  • Understand factors affecting the shape of a hydrograph.
  • Model watershed hydrology using Hec-HMS to simulate runoff and generate hydrographs.
  • Simulate one-dimensional and two-dimensional flood inundation using Hec-RAS.
  • Determine the infiltration rate of water into soil using a double-ring infiltrometer.
  • Find the permeability of an aquifer.

🛰️ Remote Sensing

  • Geomorphological analysis of a river basin.
  • Satellite image interpretation.
  • Aerial photo interpretation.
  • Stereoscopic 3D visualization.
  • Image processing.
  • Image classification.
  • LULC (Land Use Land Cover) mapping.
  • NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) modeling.
  • Integrated use of remote sensing and GIS.

Faculty & Team

Prof. D. R. Kaushal

Prof. D. R. Kaushal

Hydraulics & Sediment Transport

Areas of Interest: Hydraulic Engineering, Sediment Transport, Multiphase Flows

Email: kaushal@civil.iitd.ac.in

Prof. Dhanya C. T.

Prof. Dhanya C. T.

Hydrology & Water Resources

Areas of Interest: Watershed Hydrology, Hydroclimatology, Remote Sensing Applications

Email: dhanya@civil.iitd.ac.in

Prof. A. K. Keshari

Prof. A. K. Keshari

Groundwater & Water Management

Areas of Interest: Groundwater Modeling, Water Resources Management, GIS Applications

Email: keshari@civil.iitd.ac.in

Prof. B. R. Chahar

Prof. B. R. Chahar

Canal Design & Hydraulics

Areas of Interest: Canal Design, Open Channel Flow, Optimization in Water Resources

Email: chahar@civil.iitd.ac.in

Prof. Sumedha Chakma

Prof. Sumedha Chakma

Groundwater Contamination

Areas of Interest: Contaminant Transport, Environmental Engineering, Groundwater Remediation

Email: chakma@civil.iitd.ac.in

Prof. Saumava Dey

Prof. Saumava Dey

Hydrological Modeling

Areas of Interest: Rainfall-Runoff Modeling, Hydrological Processes, Water Resources Engineering

Email: saumava@civil.iitd.ac.in

Prof. Gaurav Talukdar

Prof. Gaurav Talukdar

Hydropower & Turbines

Areas of Interest: Hydropower Engineering, Turbine Design, Fluid Mechanics

Email: gaurav@civil.iitd.ac.in

Prof. Manabendra Saharia

Prof. Manabendra Saharia

Machine Learning in Hydrology

Areas of Interest: Hydrological Modeling, Machine Learning Applications, Data-Driven Water Management

Email: saharia@civil.iitd.ac.in

Prof. Rohith A. N.

Prof. Rohith A. N.

Watershed Hydrology

Areas of Interest: Hydrological Modeling, Watershed Management, Computational Tools

Email: rohith@civil.iitd.ac.in

Contact

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering,

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi,

Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India

Email: hodcivil@iitd.ac.in

Telephone: +91-11-2659-1241 (Secretary)

Telephone: +91-11-2659-6439 (Direct)