A talk on “Borehole water quality in Jaffna and feasible low cost treatment processes for borehole water contaminated with oil, grease, lead, chromium, cadmium and nitrate” was delivered by Eur Ing V. Yogendran on 20th February 2016 from 3 pm till 6pm at the Euroville Conference Hall.
A talk on “Borehole water quality in Jaffna and feasible low cost treatment processes for borehole water contaminated with oil, grease, lead, chromium, cadmium and nitrate” was delivered by Eur Ing V. Yogendran on 20th February 2016 from 3 pm till 6pm at the Euroville Conference Hall. He addressed about the contemporary water contamination issues in Jaffna peninsula and discussed about its remedies. This was attended by Engineers, researchers and students. The talk was jointly organised by the Faculty of Engineering and IESL NPC.
Synopsis of the presentation:
Based on the last year documents, reports and in the internet search, the borehole water quality in some parts of Jaffna is contaminated with oil, grease & heavy metals, lead and chromium. Feasible treatment processes to remove oil, grease and heavy metals (lead, cadmium chromium) from the contaminated water are available to operate on a batch basis with minimum environmental impact. Need to analyse borehole water for the presence of pesticides.
In addition, in some areas, the nitrate levels in the borehole water are more than recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) which is 50mg/l as nitrate or 11.29 mg/l of nitrate N. The higher levels of nitrate is due to application of too much of chemical fertilisers to the farm land. Proven Nitrate removal processes are available. High nitrate concentration in water can cause “blue baby syndrome” to babies less than 6 months old. There is a long term solution to reduce the nitrate level in the ground water if the farmers and the public cooperate with our recommendation to use organic bio fertiliser instead of chemical fertilisers. Proven nitrate removal processes are available. Borehole water in some wells are salty which is due to over extracting borehole water (saline intrusion taking place). The saline intrusion in borehole water in future can be prevented at a cost.
Cost for treatment of contaminated well water and cost for treatment of salinity water are included. Method for disinfecting borehole water which is contaminated with faecal matter and pathogens by using sodium hypochlorite solution generated in situ, by using either renewable energy or direct current and salt solution is available and can be dosed into the contaminated borehole water.
Profile of Eur Ing (Mr) Velupillai (Velu) Yogendran:
Currently working in collaboration with the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK and for the last 5 years, lecturing on Pollution Control, Waste Management & Water Treatment Processes to M.Sc. students at the University of Surrey. Working as a Process Engineering Consultant with his own company, Invixo Consultancy Limited in UK and has 24 years’ experience in process design, commissioning, process investigation and troubleshooting water and wastewater treatment processes. In addition, 2.5 years research & development experience of membrane bioreactor (MBR) and one of the patent holders of Energy Efficient hollow fibre MBR system.
He was born in Sri Lanka and currently a British nationality. His email addresses: yogendran.velu@gmail.com and m07774@surrey.ac.uk. He obtained his M.Sc.in Water and Environmental Engineering at the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK. He did Postgraduate Diploma in Offshore Engineering at the Robert Gordon’s University, Aberdeen, UK. Submitted a thesis on “An Experimental Study of Cleaning Cuttings Impregnated with Oil based Muds”. He also holds diploma in Chemical Engineering (Four year Sandwich course, Degree equivalent) at Birkenhead College of Technology, Birkenhead, UK. The Diploma provided full exception from all parts of examinations and design project of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK.
He is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK. FIChemE Chartered Engineer (C.Eng.), Chartered Water and Environmental Manager (C.WEM). Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), UK, C.WEM, FCIWEM and European Engineer (Eur Ing).