CEA moves to tackle issue of wastewater from laboratories

By Ifham Nizam

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) yesterday launched a new programme for proper management of wastewater discharged from analytical laboratories.

CEA Chairman S. Amarasinghe said that under the new initiative steps would be taken to dispose of the effluent containing chemical contaminants from all regional laboratories, including the CEA’s main laboratory, in a more systematic manner and the process is being implemented by CEA through INSEE Ecocycle (Pvt) Ltd.

Prior to the launch of the scheme, laboratory wastewater discharged through the local laboratory network, including the Central Laboratory’s main laboratory, was primarily treated and disposed of through the CEA’s wastewater treatment plant and laboratory solid waste disposal.

Amarasinghe said the objective of the programme was to strengthen the environmental protection process by minimising the adverse effects on the environment such as soil pollution, mitigation of surface water pollution and aquatic life and especially prevention of groundwater pollution.

CEA has identified the urgency of minimising the impact of chemical effluents and volatile effluents released by analytical laboratories onto the environment including the entire human environment.

Therefore, the “Environmental Protection Division” of the Central Environmental Authority is currently in the early stages of introducing the programme to the “Analytical Laboratories” that would be operating in various fields in the future and to submit a series of relevant instructions in that regard, Amarasinghe added.