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| Sunday, 7 March 2004 |
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Water crisis: normalcy soon? by ANTON NONIS The water crisis, which put several thousands of people in Colombo and the suburbs for days, is slowly getting back to normal, National Water Services & Drainage Board (NWSDB) Secretary, K.K Chandrasiri, told the `Sunday Observer' that the water supply to the Greater Colombo areas will return to normal by tomorrow. NWSDB have undertaken water distribution with bowsers. Assistant General Manager of Ambatale Purification Plant, Ranjith Perera said the problem was due to an increase in salinity in the Kelani River during high tide. Salinity coupled with low water level in the river due to the drought had contributed to the cause. Kelani River is the main source of water for purification at the Ambatale plant. Production Manager, J.M.U. Indraratne said they do not feed the plant with salty water. The water must be upto Sri Lanka Standards (SLS) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards, he said. Last few days only a lesser quantity of water could be taken in from the Kelani river for purification at the Amabatale plant. Twelve intake water pumps were shut down for nearly nine hours, last Thursday. Salinity problems had caused a drop in its daily purification target from 465,000 cu.metres to around 150,000 cu.metres. The water pumps had to be shut down off and on due to salinity. The Water Board officials have had discussions with the Ceylon Electricity Board to release more water from the hydro-electric reservoirs to increase the water level in the river. The CEB has agreed to respond to the request by releasing more water from the Castlereigh and the Moussakelle reservoirs via Polpitiya power station. A quantity of 30 cu.metres water per second for several hours is now released to the Kelani river, they said. The NWSDB warns consumers to use water sparingly during the current crisis and refuted charges by some who put it down to sabotage. Meanwhile, the water levels at Kalatuwawa and Labugama stood at 18 feet and 13 feet respectively at 12 noon last Friday. These two reservoirs supply only 15 to 20 per cent of the total requirement while the balance is from the Kelani river. |
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