Groundwater-Based Drinking Water Supply in Sri Lanka: Status and Perspectives

Abstract

Drinking water is largely from groundwater in Sri Lanka, so quality management is of great concern. In order to achieve the 6th goal of United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), more efforts are being undertaken to secure drinking water quality. In this paper, the current status, challenges and opportunities of groundwater quality management and improvement in Sri Lanka were reviewed and discussed, based on previous studies. There are Ca-HCO3 type, Ca–Mg-HCO3 type and Na–SO4–Cl type groundwater dominated in the wet zone, intermediate and the dry zone, respectively. Elevated levels of hardness, fluoride, DOC, and alkalinity, and salinity are reported in the groundwater in the dry zone controlled by geology and arid climate. Although groundwater in some regions contain significant levels of nitrates, arsenic, cadmium and lead, the majority remain at acceptable levels for drinking purposes. As for treatment technologies, existing membrane-based drinking water treatment technologies such as RO (Reverse Osmosis) stations can produce safe and clean drinking water to the community, but this has still a limited coverage. To achieve a safe drinking water supply for all, especially in rural communities of Sri Lanka under the 6th goal of the UN SDG, more efforts in building up the infrastructure and man power are needed to monitor and assess groundwater quality regularly so as to develop management strategies. Research and development can be directed towards more cost-effective water treatment technologies. Protection of groundwater from being polluted, and educational and awareness programs for the stakeholders are also essential tasks in the future.

Integrated Water Management in Mountain Communities: The Case of Feutap in the Municipality of Bangangté, Cameroon

“…Besides the few springs, this situation precludes the large-scale development of groundwater as a source of water supply for potable uses. Such unfavorable hydrological conditions conventionally imply the implementation of rainwater catchment systems as the main source of water for households [13,[73][74][75][76]. This situation is also characteristic of small islands.…”

“…The most prominent historical example has been St. Eustatius (an island in the Caribbean, a special municipality of the Netherlands), "The Island without Water" in the colonial era [76,80]. As for mountainous regions, the cascades of India [81] and Sri Lanka [13] are the best examples demonstrating that constructing adequate rainwater storage reservoirs is a powerful tool to enable even irrigated agriculture under less favorable natural conditions.…”

“…The Kilimanjaro Concept (KC) has been recently presented for integrated water resources management in hilly regions [8,9]. On the other hand, the use of cisterns to warrant water supply in mountain communities is a very old decentralized solution [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. This communication is about integrated water management in mountain communities, including safe drinking water supply.…”

Spatiotemporal Variation of Groundwater Quality in North Central Province, Sri Lanka

“…Thus, advanced water treatment technologies such as RO, nanofiltration (NF), and electrodialysis reversal (EDR) are required to purify these groundwaters with high mineral content. RO membrane technology has been already implemented in many villages of these regions, , . RO systems can handle feedwater with higher EC and hardness to produce drinkable water with lower mineral content.…”

“…In Sri Lanka, especially in the dry zone, people used to consume raw groundwater for a few centuries. 1 The extraction of groundwater in this dry zone drastically increased with the increase in population demand for drinking water, irrigation water, and other domestic water needs. With the discovery of different groundwater quality issues in rural Sri Lanka, the importance of regular monitoring of drinking water (groundwater) sources became essential.…”