Sierra helps CKD prone communities get clean water

People in two Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) prone areas in the Anuradhapura and Trincomalee districts can feel safer following the donation by Sierra Construction Ltd. of two Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants for the purification of water.

This project is one of Sierra’s corporate social responsibility initiatives in response to an official request made by the Presidential Task Force on the Prevention of Chronic Kidney Disease which is a burning issue in the North Central Province and several other areas.

The donated Reverse Osmosis plants have been commissioned in the Thalawa Divisional Secretariat (DS) division in the Anuradhapura District and the Gomarankadawala Divisional Secretariat division in the Trincomalee District. The project is a collaboration between Sierra Construction Ltd. and the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB).

“We are happy to be a partner in this humanitarian task. This CSR project will provide safe drinking water to around 2,000 people in each area and improve the quality of life in these CKD affected areas. Each Reverse Osmosis plant has the capacity of 10m3/day to purify up to 10,000 litres of water per day,” said Sierra Construction Ltd. Chief Operating Officer (Water Supply and Sewerage) Anura Premarathne. 

The control room and the two RO plants commissioned are sourced from PureAqua Inc. of USA which is a leading manufacturer of water treatment and reverse osmosis systems. The purification plants have been transferred to Community Based Organisations (CBOs) of the beneficiary villages. Each CBO is registered in the respective regional office of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board as well as with the respective Divisional Secretariat. The CBO concept is a practiced and proven system in many community projects in Sri Lanka. 

Sierra and the NWSDB will closely monitor the operations of CBOs, the company said. Sierra is one of the leading solutions providers in the water sector and has experience in design, construction and commissioning of large scale water treatment plants, raw and treated DI/HDPE water transmission lines, reservoirs and HDPE/UPVC pipes distribution systems and house connections. 

The website of the Presidential Task Force on the Prevention of Chronic Kidney Disease states that, “CKD is a widespread disease caused by a wide range of precipitating factors. According to available health statistics there are approximately 20,000 admissions/re-admissions of patients with renal failure to government hospitals with approximately 2,000 deaths annually.”

According to the website, there are approximately 70,000 CKD/CKDu patients in known high risk areas, of who the majority are from North Central Province. The Madawachchiya, Padaviya, Kabathigollawa, Rambawa, Madirigiriya, Wilgamuwa, Girandurukotte, Padavi Sripura, Gomarankadawala, Dehiattakandiya, Polpithigama and Welioya Medical Officer of Health (MOH)/Divisional Secretariat areas have a high prevalence of CKD/CKDu.

Sierra Construction Ltd. is a fully owned subsidiary of diversified Sierra Holdings Ltd., which has interests in cable manufacturing, PVC manufacturing, fertiliser manufacturing and leisure in addition to construction. 

Sierra Construction is one of the leading general engineering and construction solutions providers in Sri Lanka in Telecommunication, IT, Water Supply and Sewerage, Roads and Bridges, Buildings and Piling and has been in the business of providing turnkey engineering solutions since 1981. Sierra employs over 4,000 people in Sri Lanka and has a strong presence in Myanmar and the Maldives. An ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified company, Sierra possess CS2, the highest grade issued by CIDA (Construction Industry Development Authority) in the field of construction.