Water, water everywhere, but …

By Dr B. J. C. Perera
MBBS(Cey), DCH(Cey), DCH(Eng), MD(Paed), MRCP(UK), FRCP(Edin), FRCP(Lon), FRCPCH(UK), FSLCPaed, FCCP, Hony. FRCPCH(UK), Hony. FCGP(SL)
Specialist Consultant Paediatrician and Honorary Senior Fellow, Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The Human body, the entirety of it, consists of water to the tune of around 55 to 60 per cent, depending on whether one is a woman or a man and also on the body configuration. In fact, even the human brain consists of 80 – 85 per cent water, in the heart and lungs it is 75 to 80 per cent and so on and so forth. Mention any organ in the body, water is the main component. The only exceptions are bones and teeth but both those still contain 25 and 10 per cent of water in them respectively.

For humans, being given water but no food, the survival time may extend up to 2 to 3 months. However, the consensus is that people can survive for around three days without water, with estimates typically ranging from two days to a week. That just goes to show how important water is for our survival. It is an essential component of our very existence. In the compelling light of all these aforesaid details, the current water situation in our country is perhaps the harbinger of even worse things to come.

In the front page of The Island of Friday the 18th of August 2023, Dr Meththika Vithanage, an erudite scholar and Senior Lecturer of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura had informed the media the day before that Sri Lanka would face a severe drinking water shortage problem in the coming years unless the government launches a committed programme to address it. She further stated that climate change would be the main reason for water scarcity and the rainfall patterns had already changed. She has categorically stated that, and we quote verbatim “We receive about 2,500 ml of rain a year, and we usually get this from May to September. However, because of climate change, we might get all 2,500 ml of rain in May itself. We need to be ready for such an eventuality. A drinking water shortage is inevitable, especially in the dry zone.” Unquote.

Just below that report in The Island Newspaper is a story that the government is distributing drinking water to 55,000 families in 52 Divisional Secretariat areas, using bowsers. This had been stated by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) on Thursday the 17th of August 2023. The NWSDB had added that many areas in the southern province were facing severe drinking water issues. Ms Wasantha Illangasinghe, General Manager of the NWSDB, had said that the Southern, North-Western, North-Central and Northern Provinces had been adversely affected by the drought. She has further elaborated “Beliatta, Tangalle, Angunukolapelessa, Weeraketiya and a few other places in the Southern Province are the worst affected by drinking water shortages. We urge people to use the water sparingly. A person that uses piped water uses about 120 litres a day. However, only 40 litres are needed for cooking and drinking. We urge people to use alternative water sources, if possible, to fulfil other needs.”

These are two extremely significant and most worrying red flags raised independently by two people who know what they are talking about. They are not foreign experts but home-grown specialist professionals in their chosen subject, which is life-giving water. The politicians in charge of many aspects of the provision of water for human consumption in the form of drinking water, for water usage in day-to-day activities and of course, water for irrigation, will not be able to, or even if they are able to, then take adequate note of, these red flags. They might even think that they are flags on a carnival !!! However, if a so-called expert Sudda’ or any other foreign expert even darker than the darkest of our people, comes around and says the same thing, then the legislators will start to jump all over the place.

As for us, this is warning enough, and at least in this case, we believe our very own experts. We need to get prepared for the catastrophe of a lack of clean water from now itself. It is imperative that we act IMMEDIATELY, well before the calamity strikes us with telling effect in the not-too-distant future.

One way in which we can act is to harvest rainwater through systems that provide potable and non-potable water. At some point in our lives, we have all tilted our heads back towards a stormy sky hoping to catch a falling raindrop in our mouth. But did you know that some people genuinely rely on rainwater as a water source? In arid regions of the world, rainwater is collected to supplement the population’s water needs in a practice known as rainwater harvesting. Although, the practice has gained traction and is now implemented in homes, in agricultural, and in industrial facilities across the world. Rainwater harvesting is the collection and storage of rain for later use for drinking, irrigation, bathing, etc. Rain is collected from the run-off of a structure, such as a roof, and is stored for later use or is redirected underground to replenish groundwater. When rain falls onto a roof, it collects in gutters and downspouts and is channelled into a storage vessel. Rainwater harvesting systems range in complexity from a barrel you may use to water your garden to a large cistern that supplies cooling towers in an industrial facility. Harvested rainwater can even be used as drinking water if treated and filtered properly. There are three basic types of rainwater harvesting systems: rain barrels, dry systems, and wet systems. Further elucidation of these methods is beyond the scope of this article.

The other way of providing water for a population is by harvesting desalinated seawater. Our little island has the blue sea right around it. We will not have any problems with desalination if we can institute the infrastructure needed for it.

Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture. Saltwater, especially seawater, is desalinated to produce water suitable for human consumption or irrigation. The by-product of the desalination process is brine. Desalination is used on many seagoing ships and submarines. Most of the modern interest in desalination is focused on the cost-effective provision of fresh water for human use. Along with recycled wastewater, it is one of the few rainfall-independent water resources.

Due to its energy consumption, desalinating sea water is generally more costly than fresh water from surface water or groundwater, water recycling and water conservation. However, these alternatives are not always available and depletion of reserves is a critical problem worldwide. Desalination processes are using either thermal methods as in the case of distillation or membrane-based methods such as reverse osmosis energy types.  An estimate in 2018 found that 18,426 desalination plants are in operation in over 150 countries. They produce 87 million cubic meters of clean water each day and supply over 300 million people.  There are excellent examples of arid countries, especially in the Middle East, using desalination to telling effect for the benefit of their people.

This author believes that the drought and its consequences this year is just a warning shot right across our bows. It is time now for the people in positions of authority to act. We can only point out the things that need to be done. We do hope that this article will be an eye-opener to those who have the power to act. The time to act is right now and not when a catastrophe strikes in the future.