Target oriented multidisciplinary research grants from NRC to solve water crisis in Sri Lanka…
Abundance of safe water is the wealth of a nation. In compliance with UN Sustainable Development Goals, the provision of clean water to the entire nation without any discrimination is set at the highest priority in all development plans of the Government of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is not a water scarce nation! However, the distribution of water resources is uneven. Presently 14% of the population (~3 million) largely living in dry zone does not have access to safe water sources within 200 m periphery. Although Sri Lanka is blessed with water resources, they get constantly contaminated with pollutants such as pesticides, heavy metals and human wastes. Additionally, certain areas are recognized as having high levels of chemical contaminants such as fluoride, nitrates, manganese, arsenic and calcium in ground water due to their geogenic origin. In the Sri Lankan context, 90 percent of the urban population has access to safe pipe borne water and 60 percent of the rural population has the access to protected well water. The rest depend on groundwater from dug wells and tube wells, with no monitoring and protection. As a result, some elements that are geogenic in origin have had a marked effect on their health.
Among the chemicals, that are geogenic origin, fluoride is one of the suspected offenders for the Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown etiology (CKDu). In addition, a large amount of heavy metals, E-coli and other bacterial species in certain water bodies has been recorded in various parts of the island. It is estimated that, of twenty five districts, fifteen districts are affected due to various contaminants in drinking water. This is an alarming situation as these chemical and biological contaminants are known to cause adverse health effects in human. Some of these are chronic toxins and tend to bio accumulate showing noticeable adverse effects after long years of exposure. Increasing kidney diseases and cancer amongst the general population of Sri Lanka can be attributed to the chronic exposure to such toxic chemicals. It has been estimated that over the past two decades, there have been 22,000 deaths from CKDu in the North Central Province and at least 5 or 6 out of 100 people are currently affected. Approximately 5% of the annual health budget is spent on the management of CKDu patients. In addition, biological contaminants found in many parts of the country cause serious water borne diseases such as viral hepatitis, bacillary dysentery, enteric fever, diarrhoea and food poisoning. It is therefore paramount to concentrate on developing water purification systems in rural areas, where there are no proper water purification arrangements available.
To date, the policy makers, engineers, academicians, industrialists, and technologists alike are aware about the acute water problem in the dry zone; the underlying reasons due to palatability issues are fairly well known; although not sustainable in Sri Lanka, the appropriate remedial measures are also available globally. However, the water problems in dry zone largely remain unsolved to date.
Presently the NWSDB as well as Private Organizations have commenced interim measures to resolve the pressing drinking water issues with a limited success. Bowser driven water distribution is currently operational under surveillance of NWSDB. Several rainwater harvesting plants at household scale are installed and the people consumed water directly without an electrolyte balance. The consumption of bottled water for drinking purposes has also increased. However, manufacturers’ adherence to bottled water regulations is questionable, raising concerns regarding their safety. Safety scrutiny of household water filters is also required.
As we discussed in previous articles dated on 26.03.2017 (Are we able to solve water crisis in Sri Lanka?) and 02.04.02017 (“Quality Deterioration” Another Aspect of Water Crisis in Sri Lanka) of Education Times, National Research Council (NRC) plays a crucial role in solving water crisis in Sri Lanka by entering as a state funding partner for scientific research. So far, NRC has provided three major research grants under ‘Target Oriented Multidisciplinary Research Grants’ category in order to help solving water crisis in Sri Lanka. Along with the 02th of April, 2017 article we included more information on one of the three grants (Target Oriented Multidisciplinary Research Grant to run a comprehensive study on Chronic Kidney Disease of uncertain Etiology (CKDu) in Sri Lanka) allocated by NRC.
Second research grant was offered to develop a Model Treatment Facility for remediation of Total Dissolved Solids and Fluoride in Groundwater. This is driven towards to find a sustainable solution for dry zone drinking water problems in Sri Lanka. This project is basically aiming to develop a state of art community level treatment facility to improve water palatability using a nanotechnology based approach. As a part of the project, the research group is also hoping to develop a scientific methodology for source water protection plan. In addition, advanced techniques to be introduced in order to identify and predict chemical species of selected trace elements in both raw and treated water. Prof. Rohan Weerasooriya from Department of Soil Chemistry, University of Peradeniya is leading this study as the principal investigator of the grant. The research team consists with Dr. S.K. Weragoda (National Water Supply and Drainage Board), Dr. A. Bandara (University of Peradeniya), Dr. Ajith Herath (Rajarata University) and Dr. A.R. Kumarasinghe (Uva Wellassa University, University of Sri Jayawardenapura)
Recently offered third TOM research grant is to develop advanced materials based filters for the water purification purposes. This project is aiming to develop biocompatible advanced materials (Nanomaterials and nanocomposites) using local raw materials to remove heavy metal ions such as arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium, to develop biocompatible advanced materials to remove organic pollutants (dyes, pesticides, etc.), fluoride and pathogen, to develop a filter which is easy to use, to have an acceptable flow rate in the filter, to have a low cost filter which is affordable to rural masses, to develop a technology to identify fluoride content in water bod- ies using a simple test which can be performed on site, to develop genetically engineered luciferase or GFP-based whole cell bacterial biosensor to detect heavy metal pollution in environment, to develop luciferase or GFP-based transgenic Zebrafish biosensor to detect heavy metals pollution in environment. Dr. Rohini M. De Silva from University of Colombo is leading this project as the principal investigator of the grant. The research team consists with Prof. K.M. Nalin De Silva (Deputy Principal Investigator of the grant), Prof. Dammika Dissanayake, Prof. Ranil Dassanayake, Prof. Nilmini Gunawardena and Dr. N.V. Chandrasekharan from University of Colombo and Dr. Gareth Williams from University College London. - Kusala Madhushani Premaratne