Two more Reverse Osmosis plants vested with the community
 

Going by the visionary concept of the Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, the Navy has been implementing a range of Community Service Programmes focusing on the wellbeing of the civilian population. To support that initiative, the Navy’s Research and Development Unit undertook the noble cause of installing Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants in areas where a high prevalence of the Chronic Interstitial Nephritis in Agricultural Communities (CINAC) is recorded. Accordingly, two more RO plants installed at Rideemaliyadda and Thalakolaweva in Polpithigama, were declared open for community use today (8).

As a consequence of the RO plant installation at the Rideemaliyadda Divisional Secretariat, over 715 families in the area now have the access to safe drinking water. Meanwhile the facility in the village of Thalakolaweva in Polpithigama possesses the capability of providing safe drinking water for approximately 730 families of the village. The financial assistance needed for these projects was given by the Presidential Task Force on Prevention of Kidney Diseases and the buildings where the systems are placed were constructed by the naval Civil Engineers under the careful supervision of Commander South Eastern Naval Area, Rear Admiral Sumith Weerasinghe and Commander North Western Naval Area, Rear Admiral Niraja Attygalle .  

The Sri Lanka Navy’s Research and Development Unit has been extremely influential in producing and installing low-budget RO plants across the country utilizing their expertise, in short span of time. As a result, the looming threat of renal disease has been curbed into a certain extent among the community who is prone to this desperate plight. Further, this magnanimous effort of the Navy receives high praise from the community and they extend their great debt of gratitude to the Commander of the Navy and all naval personnel for giving them a sigh of relief.  

Moreover, the Navy had installed 93 RO plants in different parts of the country and facilitated over 43,300 families and 40,300 school children with safe drinking water to date. Besides, the Navy is determined to set up a number of RO facilities in due course to support the noble effort of eradicating the renal disease from Sri Lanka.