Reverse osmosis (RO) drinking water stations have been introduced to provide safe drinking water for areas with prevailing chronic kidney disease with unknown (CKDu) etiology in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. In this investigation, RO drinking water stations established by community-based organizations (CBO) in the North Central Province (NCP) were examined. Water samples were collected from source, permeate, and concentrate in each station to determine water quality and performance. Furthermore, the operators of the systems were interviewed to evaluate operational and maintenance practices to identify major issues related to the RO systems. Results show that the majority (>93%) of RO systems had higher salt rejection rates (>92%), while water recovery varied from 19.4% to 64%. The removal efficiencies of hardness and alkalinity were averaged at 95.8% and 86.6%, respectively. Most dominant ions such as Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+, Ba2+, Sr2+ Cl−, F−, and SO42− showed higher rejections at averaged values of 93.5%, 97.4%, 86.6%, 90.8%, 95.4%, 96.3%, 95.7%, 96.6%, and 99.0%, respectively. Low recovery rates, lower fluoride levels in product water, and membrane fouling were the main challenges. Lack of knowledge and training were the major issues that could shorten the lifespan of RO systems.
This study focused on fulfilling the demand for a comprehensive
investigation of groundwater quality in the North Central Province
(NCP) of Sri Lanka to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development
Goal 6 (Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and
sanitation for all). The NCP was selected as the study area due to
its highest prevalence of chronic kidney disease with unknown etiology
within Sri Lanka. Here, 334 shallow and deep groundwater samples were
collected at the end of wet and dry seasons, respectively. Results
revealed that elevated and unexpected levels of salinity, hardness,
fluoride, nitrate, sulfate, and dissolved organic carbon and the alkaline
nature of groundwater were the main issues, and the Ca-HCO3 type was dominant in the groundwater. Water quality index analyses
showed that 8.9% and 13.8% of wells had poor quality undrinkable groundwater
in wet and dry seasons, respectively. Only 7% of samples were susceptible
to sodium and salinity hazards for irrigational use. Reverse osmosis
technology with a softening and activated carbon pretreatment process
was identified as the most suitable way to treat groundwater with
high salinity for many regions of the NCP. The groundwater quality
atlas for the NCP created by this study was very useful for making
a master plan of safe drinking water supplies and developing and implementing
cost-effective water purification technologies in the NCP.
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