Potable water for schools from SLN's Reverse Osmosis plants
More schools have been provided with water filter plants, through a Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) project to provide children with clean drinking water, a senior officer said.
Captain Engineer Priyankara Dissanayake told the Education Times that, to date, more than 37 schools have been provided with Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants, thereby facilitating potable water for more than 75,000 schoolchildren.
He said that priority was for RO plants in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Hambantota, Moneragala and Kurunegala, while more schools will be provided with the facility free of cost, in accordance with the request from the Education Ministry.
Unit cost of a plant is between Rs 3-5 million, if purchased from a private manufacturer, but the SLN develops a plant for about Rs 1 million.
He said the purification capacity of a plant, with a lifespan of 10 years, is a maximum 10,000 litres per day.
Capt Dissanayake said that because of the sensitive nature of the machine, a specially trained SLN person is deployed at each plant, for its operation and maintenance.
"If the schools do not have electricity, there are plans to use solar panels as well, while in some areas we provide mobile units," he said.
The SLN’s services has not been restricted only to schools, but also to remote areas, including areas with a high incidence of Kidney diseases.
He said the machines have the capability of converting sea water into drinking water and hence, schools located in the coastal belt could be provided with the facility.
Funding for the project comes from the SLN personnel themselves, as a CSR project, with contributions from their salaries.
He said that, initially, the project was launched on a request from President Maithripala Sirisena to SLN Commander Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne.
Captain Engineer Priyankara Dissanayake told the Education Times that, to date, more than 37 schools have been provided with Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants, thereby facilitating potable water for more than 75,000 schoolchildren.