Water Resources Engineering Group Laboratory

Department of Civil Engineering,

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi

The Water Resources Engineering Laboratory in the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Delhi, serves as a hub for hands-on learning for advanced research and innovation for Undergraduate and Postgraduate students in water resources. The lab provides a strong foundation in hydrologic measurement, hydrological process, water distribution, pumps, turbines, hydraulics, sediment transport, open channel flows, groundwater flow, and water quality, remote sensing and GIS equipping students with practical skills essential for real-world water management challenges. It offers diverse physical experiments and computational simulations, enabling students to understand and analyse complex water-related processes.

Beyond teaching, the lab is a platform for research and innovation, integrating remote sensing, hydrological and hydraulic modelling, 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 among students, preparing them for careers in water resources engineering. Through structured coursework, guided projects, and interdisciplinary collaboration, the lab ensures that students are well-equipped with both theoretical knowledge and practical expertise while also contributing to advancements in research and technology in water resources.

List of experiments

Hydraulics:

· Rectangular Weir’s Coefficient of discharge: To determine the coefficient of discharge (Cd) of rectangular weir in an open channel flow.

· Manning's roughness coefficient: To determine Manning's roughness coefficient for an open channel at uniform depth.

· friction factor (f) and pipe roughness coefficient: To determine friction factor (f) and pipe roughness coefficient for water flow at different diameter pipelines.

· Siphon spillway: To determine the coefficient of discharge (Cd) of a siphon spillway in an open channel flow.

· Chezy’s constant (c) and friction factor (f): To determine the value of Chezy’s constant (c) and friction factor (f) for an open channel.

· Pressure losses: To determine and compare the pressure losses across expansions, bends, and elbows in a pipeline system.

· Belanger momentum equation: To determine the energy losses in a hydraulic jump and to verify the Belanger momentum equation.

· Propeller turbine: To understand the working principle of propeller turbine by obtaining the performance characteristics for different flow rates.

· Pelton turbine: To investigate the operational principles of a Pelton turbine by evaluating its performance characteristics under varying flow rates.

· Investigating water hammer pressure

Advanced Hydraulics:

· Determination of the Specific Gravity of Iron ore/Fly ash.

· Determining pH values of the Iron ore/Fly ash slurry at different solid concentrations.

· Development of PSD (Particle size distribution) curve for the Iron ore/Fly ash sample.

· Experimental estimation of the static settled concentration of iron ore/fly ash slurry.

· Experimental study of the rheological behavior of iron ore/fly ash slurry.

· Determination of friction factor and pipe roughness in a pipeline system.

· Modelling of multiphase (slurry) flow using CFD Ansys fluent.

Water quality:

· To determine the concentration of a known chemical substance in a solution.

· Determination of water quality parameters

· Determination of wastewater characteristics

Hydrology:

· Water Budget Equation: To understand the relation between rainfall and runoff using the water budget equation for simple catchment.

· TRMM GPM MATLAB: The aim is to equip students with computational tools for analyzing and modelling hydrological processes using statistical and probabilistic approaches.

· QGIS: This lab experiment aims to get familiar with QGIS software and delineate a watershed for a given outlet using digital elevation model.

· Factors affecting hydrograph: To understand various factors affecting the shape of the hydrograph.

· Hec-HMS: The aim was to enable the modelling of watershed hydrology by simulating runoff and generating hydrograph.

· Hec-RAS: The aim is to simulate one-dimensional and two-dimensional flood inundation modelling using Hec-RAS.

· Infiltration: This experiment aims to determine the infiltration rate of water into soil using a double-ring infiltrometer.

· Ground Water Flow: This experiment aims to 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 Mapping

· NDVI modelling

· Integrated use of remote sensing and GIS

Glimpse of laboratories being conducted

Prof. D. R. Kaushal demonstrating the Hydraulic Jump Experiment to the students, explaining the transition between flow regimes, energy dissipation, and the practical significance of hydraulic jumps in engineering applications.

Prof. Dhanya C. T. guiding students through the Double Rink Infiltrometer Experiment, demonstrating how to measure soil infiltration rates and understand water movement through different soil types.

Prof. A. K. Keshari and the team site visit for the selection of the site of the Ganga canal for drinking water supply.

Prof. B. R. Chahar conducting a field visit of IGNP and Sirhind canal along with SE & Executive Engineer of IGNP to evaluate the canal breach problem and identify potential solutions.

Prof. Sumeda Chakma and his students conducting 2D Sand tank experiment to investigate the transport behaviour of cadmium in groundwater under varying conditions, aiming to understand its fate and mobility for potential environmental and remediation applications.

Prof. Saumava Dey, demonstrating the Artificial Rainfall Simulator to students, exploring the impact of varying rainfall intensities on runoff and infiltration.

Prof. Gaurav Talukdar explaining the working principles of a Pelton Turbine to students, demonstrating how high-velocity water jets drive the turbine and generate mechanical power in hydropower applications.

Prof. Manabendra Saharia teaching students programming concepts and the application of machine learning techniques in hydrological and water resources modeling.

Prof. Rohith A. N. teaching students the fundamentals of hydrological modelling, explaining the model philosophy and demonstrating computational tools for simulating watershed hydrology and water resources management.

Faculty Members (9)

Prof A.K. Keshari	Areas of Interest: Hydrological and Environmental Modelling, Sustainable Development, Remote Sensing and GIS, FEM, Waste Management and Sewerage System, Policy Analysis and Risk Assessment, Snow and Avalanche E-mail akeshari[at]civil.iitd.ac.in
Prof. Bhagu Ram Chahar	Area of Research Interests: Seepage, Drainage, Canal Design  E-mail: chahar[at]civil.iitd.ac.in
Prof. C T Dhanya	Areas of Interest: Hydroclimatological Modelling, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos Theory, Stochastic Hydrology, Optimisation in Water Resource Systems, Data Mining in Hydrology, Water Resources Management  E-mail: dhanya[at]civil.iitd.ac.in
Prof. D. R. Kaushal	Areas of Interest: Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering, Fluid Mechanics, Sediment Transport, Hydraulic Structures, Multiphase Flows, Slurry Pipeline and Flume, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Flow Instrumentation E-mail: kaushal[at]civil.iitd.ac.in
Prof. Sumedha Chakma	Areas of Interest: Settlement in Landfills, Gas Generation from Landfills, GIS Based Landfill Management, Bioreactor Landfill, Infiltration Characteristics of Different Vegetation and Landuse, Watershed Management, Water Contamination and Remediation, Open Channel Hydraulics, Contaminant Hydrology E-mail: chakma[at]civil.iitd.ac.in
. Prof. Manabendra Saharia	Areas of Interest: Flood Forecasting, Land Surface Modeling, Radar and Satellite Precipitation, Statistics, and Machine Learning, Human Computation E-mail: msaharia[at]civil.iitd.ac.in
Prof. Saumava Dey	Areas of Interest: Computational Hydraulics, Groundwater Hydrology, Surface Water Hydrology, Hydrological Process Modeling, Geostatistical Modeling E-mail: saumavadey[at]civil.iitd.ac.in
Prof. A.N. Rohith	Areas of Interest: Urban Stormwater Infrastructure Design, Flood Adaptation, Watershed Modelling, Climate Change Impact Assessment, Forecast Informed Decision Making, Hydroclimatic Extremes E-mail: anrohith[at]civil.iitd.ac.in
Prof. Gaurav Talukdar	Areas of Interest: Agro-Hydrology, Riverine Ecosystem, Optimization approaches, Hydroclimatic Extremes, Agricultural risk assessment and damage estimation, Mathematical Modeling, WEF nexus, Remote sensing and land use change studies E-mail: gtalukdar@iitd.ac.in