Dutch technology helps manage groundwater problems in Sri Lanka

Royal Eijkelkamp recently won a five-year multi-million euro project in Sri Lanka. Under instructions of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management, Royal Eijkelkamp have startedto bring to fruition a groundwater monitoring network in various regions of the South Asian country.

“Like many other countries, Sri Lanka also faces a variety of groundwater related problems”, Senior Project Manager Elsa Mulder-van Heijst says. “Groundwater is becoming scarcer, population growth increases the demand for groundwater, and a large variety of users causes fluctuations in level, quality and composition of the groundwater. In addition, there are various climatic zones in Sri Lanka. In the dry zone, where residents are affected frequently by chronic kidney disease, a very high arsenic and mercury content is found in most drinking water samples.”

In the near future, the groundwater monitoring network to be realised, consisting of 150 measuring locations, will provide the decision-makers of the ministry with timely, reliable and accurate data, based on which groundwater related problems can be monitored and managed.

Directors Huug Eijkelkamp, Frank Tillmann and Supervisory Board members Fons Eijkelkamp and Joop Hylkema are proud to have been awarded this contract. “This project is a perfect example of the turnkey solutions Royal Eijkelkamp offers nowadays. In addition to the equipment, we take care of all activities within the project, from research, design, development, financial structuring, planning, management, implementation and training to functional delivery of the whole.”

The groundwater monitoring network will be constructed in three river basins and will be monitored from the capital Colombo. In the three river basins, Royal Eijkelkamp will start with a detailed field study to determine the measuring locations and hydrogeological profiles. Once the locations have been determined, Royal Eijkelkamp will carry out all drilling work using sonic drills. This is followed by the installation of sensors, data transport and validation. In the Data Management Centre of the Water Resources Board in Colombo, a control room will be set up where all data will be received, monitored and managed. The combined project activities are supported both from the Netherlands and from Sri Lanka with project management and extensive and versatile training.