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Reverse osmosis plant maintenance and efficacy in chronic kidney disease endemic region in Sri Lanka

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Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine Aims and scope

Abstract

Objective

Chronic Interstitial Nephritis in Agricultural Communities (CINAC) causes major morbidity and mortality for farmers in North-Central province (NCP) of Sri Lanka. To prevent the CINAC, reverse osmosis (RO) plants are established to purify the water and reduce the exposure to possible nephrotoxins through drinking water. We assessed RO plant maintenance and efficacy in NCP.

Methods

We have interviewed 10 RO plant operators on plant establishment, maintenance, usage and funding. We also measured total dissolved solids (TDS in ppm) to assess the efficacy of the RO process.

Results

Most RO plants were operated by community-based organizations. They provide clean and sustainable water source for many in the NCP for a nominal fee, which tends to be variable. The RO plant operators carry out RO plant maintenance. However, maintenance procedures and quality management practices tend to vary from an operator to another. RO process itself has the ability to lower the TDS of the water. On average, RO process reduces the TDS to 29 ppm.

Conclusions

The RO process reduces the impurities in water available to many individuals within CINAC endemic regions. However, there variation in maintenance, quality management, and day-to-day care between operators can be a cause for concern. This variability can affect the quality of water produced by RO plant, its maintenance cost and lifespan. Thus, uniform regulation and training is needed to reduce cost of maintenance and increase the efficacy of RO plants.

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Acknowledgments

Annual research Grant of the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka (RUSL/2014/06) provided the financial support. Non-academic staff of the Faculty of Medicine, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Saliyapura, Anuradhapura, 50008, Sri Lanka

    Channa Jayasumana, Imalka Siriwardhana & Sisira Siribaddana

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA

    Omesh Ranasinghe

  3. Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, 60064, USA

    Sachini Ranasinghe

  4. Department of Health Science, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, 90840, USA

    Sarath Gunatilake

Authors
  1. Channa Jayasumana
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  2. Omesh Ranasinghe
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  3. Sachini Ranasinghe
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  4. Imalka Siriwardhana
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  5. Sarath Gunatilake
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  6. Sisira Siribaddana
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Channa Jayasumana.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The founding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

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Jayasumana, C., Ranasinghe, O., Ranasinghe, S. et al. Reverse osmosis plant maintenance and efficacy in chronic kidney disease endemic region in Sri Lanka. Environ Health Prev Med 21, 591–596 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12199-016-0580-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12199-016-0580-9

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