SriLankan Rural Populations
The value of water as a finite natural resource is becoming more and more highlighted, due to its
depletion and pollution. Although the situation is equally appalling with both ground and surface
water, the latter is given prominence merely due to the fact that surface water pollution is more
visible. About 60- 70% of Sri Lankan have access to a safe drinking water source, but only a
mere 30-40% enjoy the luxury of pipe borne water. Still ground water is the major drinking
water source for many rural areas of the country, and more importantly it’s the major watersource
of the rural-poor.
Issues related to ground water in the dry zone of Sri Lanka range from depletion of deep
confined aquifers due to poorly planned Tube Well schemes to pollution of shallow unconfined
aquifers due to leaching of chemical fertilizer. Large numbers of fluorosis cases are reported
from the North-western and South-eastern areas of the country owing to the geo-chemistry of the
area. The ground water issues are not only physical in nature; concerns are being raised by many
experts in the country about the water rights of ground water aquifers in the already water
stressed areas of the dry zone and possibilities of conflicts in future industrialization of these
areas. The market liberalization policies adopted by the Sri Lankan government in the late 70s
dramatically changed the resources utilization patterns of the country, little research has been
done on the impact of these shift in policy on the dry zone groundwater resources.
This project highlights the present day issues related to the contamination of groundwater in the
Dry Zone of Sri Lanka aiming to provide a technique to vulnerable rural poor who do not have
access to safe drinking water, having difficulties to get firewood to boil water as proposed by
health authorities. The intervention is to provide a total solution while providing an easy to
afford, limited maintenance and environmentally friendly (both forests and air) means to meet
the drinking water requirement, irrespective of the quality of the water that communities
have access to. The system developed is an add-on to a system that they use.
Firewood hearth distiller is a developer of the improved combustion stove called “Anagi
Unduna”. By using this heat wasted through cooking using “Anagi Unduna” amounting to 73%
of the total energy generated through firewood combustion could be used to produce safe
drinking water. 1 kg of firewood is producing 1.13 Liters of safe drinking water. A house hold
where consumption is about 8 kg of firewood for daily cooking produces 9-10 Liters of safe
drinking water which 100% full fills the drinking water requirement of 4-5 people.
depletion and pollution. Although the situation is equally appalling with both ground and surface
water, the latter is given prominence merely due to the fact that surface water pollution is more
visible. About 60- 70% of Sri Lankan have access to a safe drinking water source, but only a
mere 30-40% enjoy the luxury of pipe borne water. Still ground water is the major drinking
water source for many rural areas of the country, and more importantly it’s the major watersource
of the rural-poor.
Issues related to ground water in the dry zone of Sri Lanka range from depletion of deep
confined aquifers due to poorly planned Tube Well schemes to pollution of shallow unconfined
aquifers due to leaching of chemical fertilizer. Large numbers of fluorosis cases are reported
from the North-western and South-eastern areas of the country owing to the geo-chemistry of the
area. The ground water issues are not only physical in nature; concerns are being raised by many
experts in the country about the water rights of ground water aquifers in the already water
stressed areas of the dry zone and possibilities of conflicts in future industrialization of these
areas. The market liberalization policies adopted by the Sri Lankan government in the late 70s
dramatically changed the resources utilization patterns of the country, little research has been
done on the impact of these shift in policy on the dry zone groundwater resources.
This project highlights the present day issues related to the contamination of groundwater in the
Dry Zone of Sri Lanka aiming to provide a technique to vulnerable rural poor who do not have
access to safe drinking water, having difficulties to get firewood to boil water as proposed by
health authorities. The intervention is to provide a total solution while providing an easy to
afford, limited maintenance and environmentally friendly (both forests and air) means to meet
the drinking water requirement, irrespective of the quality of the water that communities
have access to. The system developed is an add-on to a system that they use.
Firewood hearth distiller is a developer of the improved combustion stove called “Anagi
Unduna”. By using this heat wasted through cooking using “Anagi Unduna” amounting to 73%
of the total energy generated through firewood combustion could be used to produce safe
drinking water. 1 kg of firewood is producing 1.13 Liters of safe drinking water. A house hold
where consumption is about 8 kg of firewood for daily cooking produces 9-10 Liters of safe
drinking water which 100% full fills the drinking water requirement of 4-5 people.
$
100.00
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