Royal Eijkelkamp has been awarded a fiveyear multi-million project in Sri Lanka. By order of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management, Royal Eijkelkamp will realise 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,’ says Senior Project Manager Elsa Mulder-van Heijst. ‘Groundwater is becoming scarcer, the demand for groundwater increases due to population growth and a large variety of users causes fluctuations in level, quality and composition of the groundwater. In addition, there are different climate zones in Sri Lanka. In the dry zone, where residents are often affected by chronic kidney disease, a very high arsenic and mercury content is found in most drinking water samples.’
The monitoring network will provide the Ministry with timely, reliable and accurate groundwater data.
‘The groundwater monitoring network to be realised, consisting of 150 monitoring sites, will soon provide the decision-makers of the Ministry with timely, reliable and accurate data, based on which groundwater-related problems can be monitored and managed.’ Royal Eijkelkamp carries out the project in Sri Lanka on behalf of the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management (MIWRM).
To determine the location of the monitoring sites and the hydrogeological profiles, Royal Eijkelkamp will start with a detailed field study in the three catchment areas. Once the locations have been determined, Royal Eijkelkamp will carry out all drilling work with 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 realised where all data is received, monitored and managed.
All project activities are supported both from the Netherlands and from Sri Lanka with project management and extensive and versatile training.
Royal Eijkelkamp's Director Huug Eijkelkamp and commissioner Fons Eijkelkamp are proud of this mission in Sri Lanka. ‘This project is a great example of the turnkey solutions that 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 the functional delivery of the entire project.’
The MIWRM has the executive responsibility for the administration and management of water sources. In other words, the MIWRM regulates the water sources and the extraction of groundwater. The MIWRM provides drinking water for domestic use, protection against flooding, development of land and water sources for energy from hydro power and development of aquaculture. Thereby, the Ministry gives priority to the environmental-related activities.
The MIWRM is directly responsible for the groundwater supply and management of irrigation in the country. During the project, the MIWRM will supervise that it is carried out within the applicable (environmental) legislation and regulations in Sri Lanka. The Ministry has given Royal Eijkelkamp the assignment to install the groundwater monitoring network, which will be managed from the capital Colombo, in three catchment areas.
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