Current situation and issues ofindustrial wastewater
management
Sri Lanka

Content
1. Overview of industrial wastewater regulations

 Industrial wastewater quality standards.
 Industrial wastewater quality monitoring methods
 Challenges in monitoring The situation of compliance regarding industrial wastewater quality
standards
 Industries which face challenges in compliance
2. Situation and challenges for the problematic industries

and countermeasures .
 Overview of the problematic industry
 Impact to the environment of wastewater Reason for non compliance and the problematic pollutant(s) Current mitigation measures and the problem
 Technologies and needs for addressing the challenges

At present rivers becomes polluted
due to ; rapid growth of industries located in close vicinity of therivers/lakes and passes through the country .
Number of polluting industries which discharge treated anduntreated industrial effluents already exist in the vicinity of theserivers.

The protection of water quality in natural rivers has thus become
major issue from point of view of long term reliability.

Examples for Burning Issues of Water Pollutionin SL• Kidney disease - Anuradapura– Reason?
– 3-5 deaths daily– 95% victims are male farmers– Effective age of patients 20- 50yrs• Chunnakam Ground Water Pollution– Well water contaminated with oil– Improper discharge of waste oil• Ratupaswala, Hanwella Water Pollution?
– Public protest on industries• Kelani River Water Pollution by Oil Discharge• Ongoing Court Cases– Ratupaswala & Hanwella Water Pollution– Chunnakam ground water pollution by oil

Oil – water dischargeHaphazrd industrial effluentsdischarges

Input Modes of Water Pollution• Point Sources– Point sources are localized– Point discharges can easily monitored by regulatory
agencies– Can regulate by establishing standards and monitoring• None point Sources– Sources are delocalized or dispersed– Difficult to trace it out from where pollutants enter to thewater body
• Eg: surface runoffs from agricultural area carries,silt, fertilizer, pesticides, animal waste into the water and soil but
not at only one particular point– Difficult to regulate by relevant agencies– The way to control is to set appropriate restrictions on landuse

Water Pollutants & Sources Untreated or poorly treated wastewater discharge» Domestic» Industrial
 Haphazard dumping of solid waste Agricultural run off» Agro chemicals» Fertilizers
 Sand mining activities

Laws Related to Wastewater Management• National Environmental Act• National Water Supply and Drainage Act• Mahaweli Authority Act• BOI Act
• Forest Ordinance• Etc.

National Environmental Act(NEA)• The National Environmental Act (NEA) was enacted in 1980 Act
No. 47 of 1980.
• This is an umbrella law to prevail over the other environmentallaws.

NEA is consist of v parts• Part I - Establishment of the Central Environmental Authority andan Environmental Council• Part II - Powers, Functions and Duties of the Authority• Part III- Staff of the Authority• Part IV- Environmental Management
A -Environmental Protection
B Environmental Quality
C Approval of Projects
Part V- GeneralIV A - Environmental Protection
23A.
1.The Minister shall determine by order published in the Gazettethe activities in respect of which a licenser is required to beobtained under this Act (hereinafter referred to as “prescribedactivities”) being activities which involve or result indischarging, depositing or emitting waste into the environment
causing pollution
2.No person shall carry on any prescribed activity except –a.under the authority of a licence issued by the Authority; andb.in accordance with such standards and other criteria as may
be prescribed under this Act.

Environmental standards and criteria
prepared by the CEAStandards criteria related towater quality

GazetteNotification
No.1534/18
dated 01.02.2008

12

Wastewater discharge standards• Regulation No 1534/18 of 15.08.2008• Type of Discharge Point-Inland Surface waters-Irrigation Purpose-Marine Coastal Areas-Central Treatment Plants• Type of Activity-Rubber Industries-Textile Industries-Tanning Industries
13Environmental Protection
Licence(EPL)
Objectives :• To prevent or minimize the discharges and emissions
into the environment
₋ From the prescribed activities in the gazettenotification No.1533/16 dated 25.01.2008- 138
activities
₋ In compliance with the National Discharge andEmission standards• To develop an approach in Pollution Control through₋ The best practicable Environmental Options (BPEO)
₋ Best Available Techniques (BAT)EPL Contd…
• The EPL issued to a prescribed activity shallconform the standards and criteria, such activity isallowed to discharge their wastewater to theenvironment• The EPL issued to a prescribed activity is legallybound with stipulated condition• The violation of the conditions in the EPL is anoffence punishable under the provisions of theAct. (NEA)

EPL Contd…
• The holder of an EPL is under the obligation tocomply with any directive given by the CEA toprevent or mitigate the environmental pollutionand hazards• The EPL shall ensure that monitoring ofenvironmental pollution from prescribed activities
or• Other acts the CEA considers necessary to protect
the environment

Validity period and Monitoring the EPL
Category

Validity

Monitoring
periodA

01 yr or less3 months

B

03 yrs or less

1 yearC

03 yrs or less

3 yearMajor Industry Sectors & Categories
•••
•
•
•
•
••
•
•
•
•
•

ChemicalFood & Beverages
Alcohol & Alcoholic Beverages
Metal Finishing & Surface Treatment
Dairy
TextileTanning
RubberAgrochemical
Pharmaceutical
Clay, Glass & Ceramic
HealthTransport & Vehicle service
Paper & Pulp

Industrial Distribution in Sri Lanka
10838

22556

10628

HighMedium

LowIsland wide compliance for High &Medium polluting Industries
グラフ タイトル
25,00022,501

20,00015,00010,41010,02010393

10,0008423
7168

5,0000High

MediumTotal NocomplyLow

Issue of licence for the Management ofScheduled Waste• As per the Part II of the National Environmental(Protection and Quality) Regulations No.1 of 2008 aScheduled Waste Management Licence (SWML)
should be obtained from the Central Environmental
Authority for the Management (Generate, Collect,Transport, Store, Recover, Recycle or Dispose wasteor establish any site or facility for the disposal) ofwaste specified in the Schedule VIII of the regulation

Elements of legislation
Responsibilities
Generator

Controls

Recycling

Transport

Storage

Treatment

DisposalNatural Resources
Management• National Environmental Prohibition of the use of Equipment forExploration, Mining and Extaraction of sand & gem- Gazette No. 1454/4 dated 17th July 2006
• National Environmental Prohibition of cultivation of annual
crops in high gradient area
- Gazette No. 1456/35 dated 4th August 2006
• Declaration of Environmental Protection area

Current Situation
 With regard to ground water in certain areas of thedry zone, there is a high fluoride content
 In hard rocky areas, there is a high concentration ofiron.
 In urban over-crowded cities there is biologicalcontamination of ground water.
 Over-utilization, particularly through tube wells, isanother major problem affecting ground water
resources in Sri Lanka.
 Oil spills, dumping of waste from industries, andsand mining, and industrial activities are the maincauses of water pollution in the country.

Cont.....
 Toxic chemicals then enter the county's water
system and are delivered to other parts of thecountry,
for example via the Mahaweli, Kelani, Walawe andKalu, rivers causing health problems to those who
rely on these water sources for their drinking water.

Polluting industries discharge treatedand untreated industrial effluents to therivers

Wastewater discharge throughdrainsAdoption of Best Available Technologies (BAT) &Best Environment Practicable Options (BEPO)• Registration of consultant and experts laboratories (local &International) in CEA• Laboratory accreditation and annual proficiency testing
programme for registered labs.
• Introduce cleaner production techniques in collaboration withNCPC• National Green Award Programme to motivate & encourage
industries in environment protection & management

Proposed Regulations & Standards• Proposed regulation for prescribed activities –
accommodated 04 lists (IA,2A,B&C) on the basisof strict monitoring of high polluters• Introduction of new effluent discharge modes- sea
out falls (long & short), leachate, phase out
existing industry specific standards.
• Introduce guidelines for irrigation of lands fromtreated wastewater methodically.

The situation of complianceregarding industrial wastewater
quality standards

Compliance Assistance Programmes• Preparation of guidelines for SME sectors• Develop low cost and affordable effluent
treatment methods eg: vehicle service stations• Soft loan (E friend I&II)schemes for pollution
control activities• Proposed tax reduction from pollution controldevices• Tri party agreement to dispose health care waste• Corporate National E Waste Management
Programme to facilitate E Waste generators.

Road Map for wastewater Discharge
Fee Scheme
Wastewater Discharge Fee –• Is a strategy primarily aiming at reducing thepollution loading into the natural recipient (rivers,lakes, tanks, marsh land, lagoons, estuaries, etc.),
in a manner that integrates and harmonizescommand and control (CAC) and economic
instruments.
• The objective of generating a mechanism toimprove
environmental
enforcement
andcompliance status of companies under theenvironmental regime of the CEA.

Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths

Weaknesses

Qualified staff

Inadequate staff

Frequent training and capacity
building
National Environmental Act.
And its Regulations

Lack of monitoring
Inadequate accredited
laboratory facilities
Not Enough penalties

Responses to the weaknesses• Appointment of staff (more than 100 Environmental
officers for inspections)• Establishment of Laboratory facilities at Provincial Level• Laboratory accreditation scheme and Proficiency testing ofLaboratories• Short listing and standardization of Experts/ consultants inPollution Control.
• Amendments to the existing Act.
₋ (To include more fines and penalties, prohibition notices
ie. Obtaining injunction orders) and to include provision
for Wastewater discharge fee system.

Current & Future Challenges– Lack of affordable pollution control techniques for small & medium
scale enterprises.
– Weaknesses in law enforcement and lack of regular monitoring.
– Lack of awareness for environmental concerns among industrialists
hence failures in self reporting system.
– Improper law enforcement by local government authorities.
Unavailability of proper zoning plans in local government authorities
in the country as a whole.
– Lack of systematic collection system for data and periodical analysis
and issues such as quality and availability with respect to access.
– Lack of coordination in relevant institutions.
– Strengthen capacity building programmes and compliance monitoring.

Issues/challenges related to industrial effluents– Economical issues in small and medium enterprises forpollution control– Technology– Weaknesses in law enforcement– Willingness to apply cleaner technologies

Issues/challenges related to ground water– Facilities for sampling and analysis– Lack of available baseline data
– Less research on this subject

Issues/challenges related to water
quality monitoring– Lack of allocation from national budget– No enough Laboratory staff-chemists etc.
– Lack of coordination in relevant institutions– Non continuation of monitoring– Failures in self reporting system in industries• Except for pipe-borne water supply, irrigation andhydropower schemes, in general water resources in Sri
Lanka are managed very poorly.
• Regulations are available to control most water related
problems but enforcement of these regulations is lacking.

Impact to the environmentof wastewaterLaboratory analysis of water
samplesWater Sampling Using MobileLaboratory

The ultimate result of degradation and depletionof water resources is the increasing healthhazards.
Water-borne and vector-borne diseases areprevalent,particularly
urban
low-income
communities with poor sanitary facilities anddrainage.
Despite government initiatives and legislation,very slow progress has been made towards
combating water pollution.

 Due to these there are several effects, thepolluted water contains bacteria, parasites andviruses.
 These cause life- threatening diseases likediarrhea, cholera and typhoid.
 The some lakes are polluted and that are
unhealthy for swimming, fishing or aquatic life
which also reduces bio diversity and aquaticlife.

Thank You