Page 12 - Connections Issue 3 Winter 2020

Clean Water for East Kandy, rural Sri Lanka

Rotary Club of ADELAIDE
Activity Type: General
Activity Description: Sri Lanka Water Project -
Activity Location: Pimburattewa, Sri Lanka

early 2017, the Rotary Club of Adelaide
In (RCA) began its relationship with the Rotary
Club of Kandy to develop projects of benefit to the
people in rural Sri Lanka, targeting the areas to the
east of Kandy.
Deprivation has been a feature of life there, further
intensified by the long civil war with the Tamil Tigers. People
in the area live in small villages from 200—600 households
and derive most of their income from small scale farming.
Water quality is very poor meaning that Chronic Kidney Guided by the Head Monk of Pimburattewa, the filtration
Disease is endemic, shortening lives and affecting the social plant is inspected. (Note the festive balloons)
and economic fabric of the region.
each with continuous water from a bore. This meant that the
The Rotary Club of Adelaide’s first project in the region village could have two ‘all year’ sources of clean drinking
facilitated the installation of a Reverse Osmosis (RO) water – at useful locations in the village.
Filtration Plant in Kudjuwatte – a village of three hundred
households. Funded by the RCA budget, and overseen by RC As with previous projects, site work and shedding were
Kandy member Dr Amal Karunaratna, this was designed as a provided by the villagers, and the Rotary project suppled the
first step to achieve project deliverables and demonstrate bores and filtration plants. The work was carried out in
effectiveness. The implementation of this plant has been a January/February 2020, and RCA were pleased by the
huge benefit to the families in the area and both clubs have quality of the work and efficiency of the supplying
been delighted with the continuing positive feedback and companies.
impact on people’s health. In late February, the Head Monk of Pimburattewa along with
With the support of a District Grant to match RCA funds, a village Elders arranged for a very joyful opening ceremony,
more ambitious water project was undertaken in 2018/9. which was attended by Amal, and others from the Rotary
Hobariyawa, a bigger village, requires more water to be Club of Kandy.
‘cleaned’ each day. In March 2019, a fourteen thousand litre Rotarians can be proud of their support for these projects.
per day RO plant was commissioned in the town. RCA’s They are delivering clean drinking water to some thousands
project developed the partnership. Funds from the District of people each day, and ameliorating the effects of Chronic
Grant and the RCA paid for the plant which was located on Kidney Disease.
the grounds of the local Buddhist Temple. Local villagers Return visits to Kudjuwatte and Hobariyawa have indicated
supplied the materials and built the shed which houses the that the local leaders are maintaining the plants that were
plant. There was tremendous support for the project from provided, and continue to show gratitude for Rotary’s ‘gift’ to
the Temple’s Head Monk and there are good arrangements them. They understand and promote the health benefits of
for maintenance and sustainability issues for the future. the clean water and give examples of improvements in health
In 2020, a more ambitious project, again funded by the as a result. In one village, additional tanks have been
Rotary Club of Adelaide and the District, was implemented. installed so that extra water can be cleaned over-night and is
Pimburattewa, a large village, with an existing but not- made available at times of peak demand, such as during
operating RO Plant, has a water supply that is intermittent at religious festivals and special events.
best. In addition to suffering poor water quality, for many Going forward, project plans are being developed to cover all
months each year water must be trucked in owing to its the villages in this region in a systematic fashion. Both the
ephemeral natural supplies. Adding complexity, the village Rotary Clubs of Adelaide and Kandy are grateful for the
is long and narrow, so access to a single point of supply was support of the District and want to build on their strong and
problematic for most villagers. developing partnership for the betterment of those in rural
The solution was to provide two clean water sites in the Sri Lanka.
village – one at either end. This was done by refurbishing the Ed. note: thanks to Geoffrey Millar for this report.
existing RO water plant, installing a new plant and supplying

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