Govt. mulls introducing military grade filter to fight CKDU
Sri Lankans with poor access to clean drinking water will be able to use British military grade ‘Lifesaver’ water filters for an affordable price in the near future to convert polluted water available in their community to clean water, Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister said yesterday.
“A four-member family can have access to clean water at a cost of 50 cents a day for 3 years,” Ravi Karunanayake said.
He said that although the project could run into billions of rupees, and that the Sri Lankan government’s degree of involvement in the project is yet to be determined, the ‘Lifesaver’ would be essential in preventing occurrences of chronic kidney disease (CKDU) and in improving the overall health of many Sri Lankans.
Karunanayake said that every year the Finance Ministry has to commit to battle CKDU through the budget, and spend a staggering amount on the country’s total health bill, both of which could be effectively tackled with the Lifesaver.
“Every budget there’s a need to introduce proposals to eradicate chronic kidney disease. If you see the cost of health for our country, it’s almost 3.6 percent of GDP. It’s staggering. So on that basis, this covers not only a problem day-today but also into the future. This is not just giving clean drinking water, but reducing our health bill,” he said.
Icon Lifesaver Ltd, a company based in the UK, will be distributing the ‘Lifesaver’ water filters through its local agent B. R. J. W. Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd.
B. R. J. W. Enterprises Director Darin Weerasinghe said that the British government is likely to provide a grant to the Sri Lankan government to purchase ‘Lifesavers’ at discounted rates, and bilateral discussions are currently underway.
“The UK government is looking at providing a subsidy. There are government to government discussions. Our aim is to give the people safe drinking water. This is not a commercial venture. With ‘Lifesaver’ now in Sri Lanka, arsenic and cadmium in water could be reduced to a very negligible level,” he said.
Icon Lifesaver Ltd Sales Manager Stuart Elson said that the Lifesaver filters any particle larger than 15 nanometres, and noted that bacteria are around 200 nanometres, and the world’s smallest virus, Polio, is around 25 nanometres.
The Lifesaver website claims that the product removes 99.99 percent of viruses, 99.9999 percent of bacteria and 99.9 percent of cysts in the water it filters. The system uses a hand powered pump to push the water molecules through the filter.
Elson said that using Lifesaver is more environmental friendly and healthier than using bottled water.
“The Lifesaver is equal to 30,000 plastic water bottles. Once you use the plastic water bottles, they end up polluting and may end up in lakes or seas. And we assume that water in plastic bottles is clean. Do we ask? No. We think it is,” he said.