Water unsuitable for drinking

Sakuntala JAYASINGHE

Nearly 50 percent of the underground drinking water sources in Anuradhapura district contain more than the approved fluoride content, research conducted by the Dental Surgery Unit of the Anuradhapura Regional Health Director's Office has revealed.

A spokesman for the unit said, 16 MOH divisions in the district were covered by this research programme and only 13,939 or 46.8 of the total 29,777 wells had water suitable for drinking with the average fluoride content.

The average fluoride content permissible in drinking water according to WHO specifications is 0.7 milligrammes of fluoride per one litre.

Excess fluoride in drinking water is harmful for personal health as it gets deposited in tissues. Dr Bandara Wijesinghe who assisted the research work said, excess fluoride in water also caused discolouring of teeth.

According to the research 12,853 wells or 43.2 had less dangerous levels of fluoride which is 0.7 to 2.00 milligrammes per litre while 2,985 wells had dangerous levels of 10 milligrammes or more per litre.