News
Biyagama plant struggling with putrid water
Biyagama will be threatened with polluted water every year if the authorities do not act to avert the hazard.
The manager in charge of the local water treatment plant is urging a long-term solution to the problem which, he says, occurs when there is flooding. The water board says it has a proposal under consideration.
Following complaints by Biyagama residents of bad odour and an unusual taste in their water, the Biyagama water treatment plant sent samples for laboratory analysis.
The Operations and Maintenance Manager at the Biyagama water treatment plant, Ruwan Wijekoon, said the phenomena primarily occurs when the marshy lands in Pattivila become flooded and grass and plants rot in the water.
When the floodwaters recede, this water full of rotting plants and roots flowed into the Kelaniya River from which the Biyagama water treatment plant extracts water.
“There is no alternative method to flush the water out. The treatment plant has no facility to treat a huge volume of contaminated water,” Mr. Wijekoon said.
Due to lack of technology, Mr. Wijekoon opines the plant might have to be shut down in the event of massive water contamination.
As a temporary solution this year, a barricade of sandbags was constructed to minimise the flow of contaminated water into the river, and by May 31 supply to Biyagama was back to normal as the network had flushed out the dirty water.
Nevertheless, said Mr. Wijekoon, a permanent solution must be found as the area gets flooded every year and the intensity of the floods has increased every year.
He added that the problem of petroleum effluent entering the Pattivila canal had been resolved after theSapugaskanda Oil Refinery agreed to improve its processes and stop petroleum being released into the canal.
National Water Supply and Drainage Board Chairman K.A. Ansar said the board was considering a long-term solution to the problems. The Irrigation Department is reviewing the project, he said.
“In the Kelaniya River Phase Two Project, one of the components is to divert the canal downstream: that is, by laying a pipeline bypassing the Pattivila canal outfall to the Kelani River,” he said.
Mr. Ansar said this would ensure the water in the Biyagama area would not be contaminated.
The Convener of the Joint Alliance of Water Supply Trade Unions, Upali Ratnayake, pointed out that Biyagama residents had had to cope with impure drinking water supply for a long time and urged the authorities to institute a long-term solution.