WEPA Action Programme
for Sri Lanka 2016
DR. R.M.S.K. Ratnayake
Actg. Deputy Director General
Himali Karunaweera
Assistant Director
Environmental Pollution Control Division
Central Environmental Authority

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Contents
1. Status of Water Environment Management in
Sri Lanka
2. Prevailing ground water issues
3. Proposed Activities in AP
4. Future plans of the CEA on protection ofground water2

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Water Supply Coverage• 33% of population in Sri Lanka is served by pipe bonewater supply with 294 water supply schemes• Protected Dug Wells is 33%• Hand pump/tube wells is 8%• Rain water is used by 2.4% of population

Overall access to safe drinking water coverage is 76.4%
in 2007 ( NWSDB report)
・ Total well water usage is 72%
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Different types of wells

5Legal status of ground water protection in Sri Lanka• Multiple mandates governing the use andmanagement of ground water are dispersed
among various agricultural, land and water
managing institutions.
• No single or formally accepted policy or law• Extraction is freely open to every one and nolimits.
• Fee is charged only if the water supplied inpiped schemes.
6Institutional Arrangements for water administration•

Central Environmental Authority
Overall responsibility for protecting water Environment.

•Water Resources Board –scientific characterization, mapping, preparation of comprehensive
and integrated plans for conservation, utilization, control and development of thegroundwater.

•National Water Supply & Drainage Board- operational development and installation of public
and private water supply schemes based on groundwater, coordinate sewerage systems.

•Department of Irrigation – Regulation & control of inland waters•Mahaweli Authority – Maintenance of Mahaweli River and its reservoirs fordevelopment of lands for agriculture.

•National Aquatic Resources Agency – Conduct Researches on Aquatic Resources•

Department of Coast Conservation – Conservation of the coastal zone and management of itsresources.

•Marine Pollution Prevention Authority- protect the marine environment from ship based andshore based maritime related activity.

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Prevailing ground water issues•

Ground water is polluted mainly due to ;Heavy agricultural practices tend to increase excess amounts of Nitrates manly inshallow aquifer ground water eg. In Jaffna peninsula due cash & horticulturalcrops.

•

Over use of agrochemicals in Dry zone Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in North
Central Province is still unidentified.

•Untreated sewerage disposal /poor hygienic practices resulted in wide spreadbacterial pollution of wells.

•

Industrial effluent and waste disposal such as solid waste dumps & oil dumps•

Over extraction of Ground water leads to well drying & salinization of the aquifer/intrusion of salt water in coastal areas.

•Due to natural geochemistry of the area and other• - Dental fluorosis in central, north- central, north -eastern & southeastern regions ( 10mg/l reported)
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Recent ground water pollution incidents reported due toIndustrial discharges;• Since 2011 ground water contaminated with oil discharge fromPower plants in Chunnakum area in Jaffna peninsula.
• In 201Well water contamination in Rathupaswala ( Gampaha area)
due to industrial effluent discharge ( rubber glove manufacturingindustry) on land. Still the groundwater is high in sulphate contentand nitrate.
• Ground water contamination since 2013 due to Palm oil effluent &sludge disposal on land.
• In January 2016 accident in paint factory in Panadura, Keselwatte,leakage of chemical compounds butyl acetate in to near by lands
and polluted well water in the close vicinity.
• In January 2016, leakage in under ground diesel tank and pollutionof ground water and Nilwala river.
• North-central Province CKD issue is still unidentified
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High medium & low polluting industrial distributionin Sri Lanka

Total "A" category, 6271,
22%

Total "C" category, 14787,
53%

Total "B" category, 6834,
25%

Total "A" category

Total "B" category

Total "C" category

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Provincial distribution of industries in Sri Lanka
Provincial distribution of Industries ( CEA data 2015 Jan)
4500

4000

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0

Total "A" category

Total "B" category

Total "C" category

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Profile of Gampaha District
Population
2,304,833

Industry -6406
high polluting
industries - 1901

Solid Waste generation
750 tonns / day

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Ground water usage in Colombo& Gampaha Districts( study of the management of ground water resources in Sri Lanka)

ColomboGampahaPopulation rely on
ground water %

34.8

75.4

Ground water usage –individuals m3/d

78,000156,000

Registered deep bore
hole wells

342

890

Ground water for piped
supply m3 / d05,859

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Issues in Sri Lanka• Ground water pollution is drastically increasing
due to industrial discharges• It is difficult to predict the industrial pollution due
to lack of baseline data
• CEA has no any regulation on groundwaterpollution and groundwater withdrawal• To set up the regulation on ground water, CEA
should have data on ground water• Policy & regulation on improvement ofgroundwater protection by industrial pollution, isvery important and needful14

Project Activities•••••••

Literature survey to gather information on the area and past studies if any.
Awareness programmes to build technical capacity of laboratory staff
Selection of sites within Divisional Secretariat areas in Gampaha district.
Mapping of wells in selected areas by GPS locations.
Preparation of standard format for data collection.
Collect samples from wells including wet & dry periods.
Record meteorological parameters ; rainfall, temperature, relative
humidity.
• Measure field parameters; Temperature, pH, DO, Conductivity.
• Analyze COD, pH, Nitrates, Phosphates, Ammonia, Total Coliform, Faecal
Coliform, Chloride and metal irons ( if necessity arises )• Preparation of report on base line data and mapping of ground waterquality.
•Scheduled period for this water quality analysis is 12 twelve months
including wet & dry periods of the year.

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Flow diagram of activities
Desk Study & Literature survey

Awareness

Selection of Sites

Water Sampling

WetDryLab Analysis

Data Interpretations

Published in the Website
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Future plans of the CEA on protectionof ground water• Enforce the regulation on siting of industries which compelled the industry
to select suitable sites with proper discharge modes.
• Policy decisions based on the results of ground water contaminations in
critical areas.
• No any chemical effluent discharges be allowed on land disposal.
• Impose multiple discharge standards such as sea out fall, sewer systems,
inland surface waters• Limit over extraction of water from industries via conditions in theEnvironmental Protection Licence.
• Implementation of ambient water quality standards and river classification
thereby protection of groundwater – surface water interactions.
• Establish regular and island wide monitoring programme for ground waterquality.
• Encourage rain water harvesting to enhance the groundwater table.
17Thank you18