15th Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Plant opens in Anuradhapura

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The Foundation of Goodness had the privilege of declaring open our 15th Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Plant on the 15th of September at the village of Bandaragama in Elayapaththuwa, Anuradhapura District with the kind sponsorship of Ratnatunga Charity Projects, as pledged at the Doing Good Charity Ball in Melbourne lead by OYOB, Australia.

Access to safe drinking water and sanitation are internationally recognized human rights, with the United Nations declaring clean water and sanitation as one of 17 sustainable development goals. Unfortunately, for many Sri Lankan agricultural communities, this is an unreachable goal.

At the end of a long and hard day of physical labour in the fields under the blistering tropical sun, every sip of cooling water that assuages their thirst is slowly killing them. Water sources in many of these agricultural regions naturally have a high mineral content which has resulted in increased incidences of kidney stones. Unfortunately, this has been exacerbated by chemical contamination including elements such as cadmium and magnesium that are believed to have been deposited in the water sources as run off from the excessive use of pesticides.

The contaminated water is, over time, causing Chronic Kidney Disease among the agricultural communities, with advanced stages of the disease leading to kidney failure and death. Conventional water purification methods are unable to remove the chemical contaminants and the most effective method has proven to be reverse osmosis (RO) water purification methods.

Large RO plants are able to produce enough clean water daily to provide for the drinking needs to several small villages and are the best safeguard that we can afford these communities where the people struggle with poverty and other harsh environmental conditions, unable to afford or access the necessary medical interventions such as dialysis and kidney transplant to safe their lives or ease their suffering.  Most cannot even afford to purchase the medication prescribed to them.

The villagers gathered eagerly for the opening of the water purification plant, and among those present were many advanced sufferers of Chronic Kidney Disease who live in the surrounding villagers. “My husband has been suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease for 12 years and now he is crying because they say he needs to be put on a machine’, said a lady who was at the opening ceremony.

A more than 2,200 people living in the 4 surrounding villagers will be bale to collect clean drinking water from this plant. The management of the RO Plant has been handed over to a village committee and water will be issued at Rs. 1 per litre. The collected funds will be utilized to pay electricity bills and cover any maintenance costs that come up and the Foundation of Goodness will continue to oversee the plant to ensure that all goes well.

We are incredible grateful of the Doing Good Ball and OYOB Australia’s continuous efforts to raise awareness about this incredible cause and sincerely thank Ratnatunga Charity Projects for this amazing gesture to provide live saving clean water to desperate community in rural Sri Lanka.

                                                            “Doing the best for others, we experience the best for ourselves”