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Environmental
Division
Water Quality Studies & Services
Unit
Current monitoring programs undertaken
by the WQS & S Unit
The activities in this unit are
operated by a team of qualified scientists and technical officers.
The unit provides consultancy and testing and in addition, carries
out related research. Professional staff of this Unit consists of 3
scientists and a technical officer.
 Quality
Surveillance of Pipe Borne Water in the Greater Colombo Piped
Water Supply Scheme.
This program is being ongoing since
1988. This is a policing program carried out for National Water
Supply and Drainage Board to ensure safe drinking water. This
program is specially designed to monitor the bacteriological quality
of drinking water supplied to the Greater Colombo Region and
operated in accordance with the WHO Surveillance criteria. We
collect over 300 samples per month on daily basis form both fixed
and random locations. The confirmed feacal contaminations are
reported within 24 hrs through Immediate Response Reporting System
built in to the program.
Package
Consultancies on Ambient Water Quality
Monitoring
This unit is strengthened with staff
and equipment to carry out full-scale monitoring studies in lake and
river water quality monitoring. The package includes deciding
sampling locations for collection of water and sediment samples over
spatial and temporal scales, laboratory analysis and preparation of
environmental quality status reports on water resources, compliance
reports with designated uses etc.
Beira Lake Environmental Quality
Monitoring, Lake Sediment Quality Monitoring in Beira Lame
Restoration Project, and Monitoring Water and Sediment Quality for
Diyawanna Uyana Development Project are some of our successful
consultancy activities.
We work in close collaboration with
stakeholder agencies in the water quality sector in providing
professional services. We currently work as a technical service
partner to Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation to
provide environmental monitoring services in the Environmental
Improvement Projects of the canals, lakes and streams of the Greater
Colombo Area which include Lunawa Lagoon, Kotte Canal etc and Heen
Ela Marsh.
Currently this unit functions as the
monitoring agency for testing water quality in many development
projects, EIAs and IEEs. This Unit functioned as the water quality
monitoring agency for Kukuleganga Hydropower Development project
during 3 years of its construction phase. Water quality monitoring
on EIA on Katunayake Expressway Development Project, Outer Circular
Transport Project, Baseline Extension Project, Kandy Expressway are
some of our past activities. Currently we function as the water
quality monitoring agency for the construction phase of the Southern
Transport Development Project.
Quick
Testing Services on Water Quality
Issues (QTS)
This section provides services for
testing water and wastewater for environmental licensing, project
approving, treatment plant performance, and monitoring water quality
for impact assessment studies. In addition, services are provided on
testing construction raw materials and water for chemical parameters
according to standards of the construction industry. We have built
strong partnerships with number of regular customers where we
provide quick reporting services on material and construction water
tests needed by this industry.
Testing
microbial quality of household water
The Unit has a team for sampling in
the storage reservoirs, sumps or source water wells and test for
water quality issues such as bacterial contamination, nuisance algae
and iron contamination etc. The team quickly responses to the cases
of suspected contamination informed and their services can be
obtained within a very short period on special subscribed rates. We
have a large number of customers who use this service to test their
domestic and company water lines regularly to ensure safe drinking
water supplies.
Research
and Training
Facilities are available for
postgraduate and graduate level students to carry out research on
areas related to water quality under the supervision of
professionally qualified team of scientists.
Currently we have students registered
from the Universities of Peradeniya and Colombo who are involved in
research in collaboration with this Unit.
Current postgraduate research
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Water pollution and phosphorus in
detergents
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Environmental flow release in
hydropower projects
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Chromium contamination in river
sediments from leather tanning waste
Training
and Workshops
The unit provides training facilities
for persons interested in building up knowledge and capacity in
water management sector on short term group basis and long term
individual basis. Annually we receive participants form universities
for this program. One of the objectives of this program is to
continue upgrading and sharing scientific know-how in the Unit.
Water
Quality Advisory Service (WQA)
Scientists in the Unit coordinate with
various stakeholder agencies in the water sector in providing
advisory services to water quality management, in environmental
legislation and water related issues – case specific basis.
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