Virgin forest and a place admired by a great King:

Purification plants at Labugama

Text and Pictures by Chamari SENANAYAKE

When it comes to Sri Lanka’s water cleaning facilities, not many people know much about them nor pay much interest despite their immense importance to urban and even rural life and public health.

A colourful history Sri Lanka’s water purification tells a tale of a country’s first water purification facility at Labugama being built after a suggestion by then Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII after he inspected the lush green Labugama area that was originally used as an elephant stable. For such a small developing country, Labugama water facility has a relatively long history that runs as further as 1875.

When compared with our giant neighbour, who is far more prominent in technology and innovation, water purification in our island had already started by the time Indians were ‘thinking’ about it. Labugama water facility formally became a purification plant in the year 1912 and the first known water purification in India started as late as 1929.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that King Edward VII, who first proposed the project in Sri Lanka was a patron of arts and sciences, and during his reign significant changes in technology took place through out the commonwealth, or due to the fact that he was one of the great Kings who treated all people equally and believed his ‘subjects’ were also entitled for a better life. Just as the rest of the country, in Colombo, everyone used water from wells, including the British prior to the construction of Labugama reservoir.

Labugama and Kalatuwawa reservoirs are situated 39 kilometers further from greater Colombo at the border of Colombo and Rathnapura districts. After the proposal was made, J F Bateman, President of Civil Engineering Institute of England initiated the constructions and the a pipeline to supply 2 million gallons per day to Colombo.

At a time lorries, bulldozers or cranes were not available, our noble elephants did most of the work building the reservoir and dam while bulls and donkeys played a vital part in transport and labour. It is said that while this reservoir and dam were been built by manpower, elephants carried all the large pipes for miles and miles of distances and in specially designed bull carts the rest of the pipes and equipments were brought in.

In 1905 Labugama was taken under the Municipal government and since 1978 it belongs to the National Water Supply and Drainage Board. Usage of chemicals and chlorine was introduced in 1912 making Labugama a complete purification and filtering facility and by that time the reservoir also has expanded to 205 acres. Today it boasts an output of 10 million gallons per day.

And Kalatuwawa facility, which is situated nearby was built in 1954, has a bigger output of 20 million gallons per day.

The facility is made to work automatically according to the water pressure with no sensors - its hundred year old gates open and close according to the high and low water pressures, reacting to the heavy rains releasing the excess through the canals.

The Officer in Charge Sunimal Gunasekara mentioned that although the iron gates are over a hundred years old, they need the bare minimum maintenance. Just around the corner, at the Kalatuwawa facility, they seem to follow the thrifty DIY policy. According to Madhawa Amaratunga, an assistant engineer at Kalatuwawa Plant, while cleaning the water, they use the same water to generate enough electricity for the facility. A simple procedure that possibly saves thousands of rupees each month and a great example for anyone to follow is ‘two birds with one stone’ practice.

Labugama and Kalatuwawa impounding reservoirs use surface water which comes not through villages or towns and therefore is already clean. Kalatuwawa and Labugama plants receive water under gravity and there are five steps of water purification with the first called ‘Aeration process’ - air (oxygen) is introduced into water, this means, the taste, colour and odour causing substances and gases are removed. Second step is addition of chemicals, when chemicals are added to water it reacts with soil and clay particles, microorganisms and other substances. These particles associate with similar particles to form big flocs when it is heavy sink to the bottom with clear water at the top as the result.

During the third step known as ‘Sedimentation process’ - clear water that is found at the surface of the tanks is sent into the sand filters through a network of channels. Fourth step is ‘Filtration’ - water is filtered through the rapid gravity sand filters. Final step is ‘Disinfection’ - where they use chlorine gas to disinfect water, but they add another chemical to water, which is lime that prevents corrosion of the distribution lines.

This year January, the Labugama-Kalatuwawa Water Supply Promotion Project was undertaken with financial assistance jointly from the Government of Hungary and Sri Lanka to mark the 125th year of the Labugama Water Supply Project and was declared open at a ceremony under the patronage of Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. With this project they plan to expand Labugama output to about 15 million gallons per day.

Set against the backdrop of a lush green virgin forest that expands over 2500 acres, and with its buildings built to the colonial architecture, Labugama water purification facility looks like a scene from a movie. Its filter house reminded me of a typical English racecourse grandstand. Built like an upper class horse stable its immaculate white walls and green roof creates a scene almost from a classic English movie.

Kalatuwawa, being far more solid with its stone and earth material large black wall around the dam gives an image of an ancient fortress in the middle of a 3500-acre forest. It also has a signpost from the colonial era forbidding people to fish in the waters by the order of King Edward VII. Another piece of history that comes with it is the location of its ancient elephant stable where wild elephants captured from the nearby forest were kept.

It is said that the King who was then the Prince of Wales actually came to see the wild elephants there and realized the suitability of the area for a reservoir. The 6000-acre rain forest around the two reservoirs is narrowly connected with Sinharaja. Labugama- Kalatuwawa rainforest is an extra security reserve where no one is allowed to enter let alone built or live.

This virgin forest could be millions of years old, some parts of it almost completely untouched by humans and with an annual rainfall of about 4000 mm, it brings the uncorrupted clean water to the reservoirs. Minister Dinesh Gunawardena talks proudly of our water purification facility that boasts a history far greater than of most other Asian countries.