Browsing by Author "Mathota-Arachchige, Y. L. N."

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Assessment of hardness and selected anion contents of well water in Mahadivulwewa and Puhudivula grama niladari divisions in Madawachchiya divisional secretariat area
(Research Symposium on Pure and Applied Sciences, 2018 Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Fernando, T. D.; Mathota-Arachchige, Y. L. N.
Mahadivulwewa and Puhudivula grama niladari (GN) divisions of Madawachchiya divisional secretariat area are highly influenced by agricultural practices. These areas have reported the highest number of CKDu patients. People in these GN divisions have colonized as isolated villages. Therefore, in our study we have selected 10 sites in Mahadivulwewa and Puhudivula representing all villages to analyze the current situation of water quality in those areas. The Calcium, Magnesium, Fluoride, Nitrate, Nitrite, Sulphate, alkalinity, hardness conductivity, salinity and TDS levels were measured according to American Public Health Association (APHA) standards. Results were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 20 software. The Calcium level ranged between 17.30 - 101.35 mg/L and Magnesium level ranged between 4 - 102 mg/L. Fluoride (F-), Nitrate (NO3-), Nitrite (NO2-) and Sulphate (SO42-) levels ranged between 0.02 - 4.3 mg/L, 0 - 8 mg/L, 0.1 - 9.3 mg/L and 4 - 98 mg/L respectively. Alkalinity and hardness levels ranged between 20-250 CaCO3 (mg/L) and 59.7 - 608.9 CaCO3 (mg/L) respectively. With respect to Magnesium, Fluoride, hardness and alkalinity, water samples had exceeded SLS recommended levels by 66.7%, 51.7%, 71.2% and 2.6%, respectively. No water sample had exceeded the SLS recommended levels for NO3-, NO2- and SO42-. Even though there is no significant difference (P >0.05) with respect to above parameters between the sites, there was a slightly low conductivity levels in one site (with the highest percentage of CKDu patients) compared to the other sites. According to these results higher percentages of wells in these areas are not suitable for drinking purposes.
Assessment of selected water quality Parameters in well water samples from Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown etiology (CKDu affected Unagaswewa area
(Research Symposium on Pure and Applied Sciences, 2018 Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Jayasekera, L. D. H. S.; Mathota-Arachchige, Y. L. N.
Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) is a serious condition of kidney failure and is not associated with conventional risk factors. The disease is increasingly spreading over many areas of Sri Lanka. The exact causative factors and etiology of CKDu are not yet completely understood . However, based on observations of previous research, there are strong evidences to show that CKDu has a profound relationship with the quality of drinking water . Therefore, this research study was conducted to evaluate the water quality of well water samples from Unagaswewa area and thus to assess the suitability of well water for drinking purpose, with respect to the World Health Organization guidelines and Sri Lanka Standards of drinking water quality . Unagaswewa grama niladari division of Medawachchiya divisional secretariat was taken as the study area of the research . Random stratified sampling method was used for sample collection . A clinical survey was performed to find the number of patients and non-patients living in a household and other necessary background information were also collected . Fifteen water samples were collected from well water sources and two Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtered water samples were used as a tentative reference. The water quality parameters such as pH (5.56 7.53), electrical conductivity (EC) (15.13 2540.00 µS/cm), total dissolved solids (6.94 1290.00 mg/L), concentrations of Calcium (0.00 111.00 mg/L) and Potassium (0.00 5.08 mg/L), total hardness (2.00 1080.00 mg/L) and total alkalinity (40.00 546.00 mg/L) were measured by averaging the triplicated results. The samples were analyzed using different analytical techniques and instruments such as multi parameter analyzer (HACH: HQ 40d multi), flame photometer (Jenway PFP7) and titrimetric methods . Based on all the measured water quality parameters in the study area, RO filtered water samples were identified as suitable for drinking purposes except that the pH is slightly below the recommended values, which can be predicted due to an ion exchange during the filtration. Among the well water samples collected from Unagaswewa area, more than 85% of the samples were identified as not suitable for drinking. Based on the measured parameters, it can be stated that, well water in Unagaswewa area can be used for drinking purposes upon RO filtration, which will be further confirmed by the completion of the analysis.
Usage of Strychnos potatorum seeds for the reduction of diazinon residues in water
(Research Symposium on Pure and Applied Sciences, 2018 Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Nawarathne, W. N. C. P.; Mathota-Arachchige, Y. L. N.
The need to fulfil the current food demand has led to the heavy usage of agrochemicals such as synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides in agricultural sector. However, pesticide malpractices can cause severe adverse effects on both human health and the environment. Therefore, removal of remaining pesticide traces from water prior to human consumption is essential. Among the organochloride pesticides used in Sri Lanka, diazinon was selected as the candidate pesticide for this model study considering its common usage in local agriculture. Strychnos potatorum (SP) is a plant which can be found in central parts of Asia. In several studies, SP seeds have been effectively used for treating polluted water. Therefore, SP seeds were used as the material to treat Diazinon contaminated water. The objective of this study was to assess the efficiency of reduction of diazinon residues from water using raw SP seeds. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis was used to determine the diazinon concentration in the medium and the peak for diazinon was identified at ~12 min detected at 254 nm using Agilent infinity 1260 II HPLC performed in a reversedphase Zorbax Eclipse plus C18 Column, with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile/water (65/35, v/v) at ambient temperature with an injection volume of 10 µL and flow-rate at 1 mL/min. Optimization of SP biomass dose/seed biomass was performed by agitating diazinon aqueous solution (10 mg/L, 50.0 mL) with different SP seed pieces varying from 10 g to 50 g. Biomass optimization was done for different agitation conditions (1-inch-long and 1.5-inch-long magnetic bar sizes). Two different biomass-diazinon interaction quenching techniques (filtering using filter paper and centrifugation) were tested. Optimization of treatment time was performed by agitating diazinon aqueous solution (10 mg/L) and SP seed pieces (0.2 g/mL). Treatment was conducted up to 120 mins. A control study was carried out by providing conditions similar to the treatment study without using SP biomass/ seed biomass. Results of this study revealed that SP seed is an effective material for reduction of the diazinon pesticide from the water which showed 67 ± 10% diazinon concentration reduction. The efficient SP biomass was identified as 0.2 g/L for 10 mg/L diazinon concentration. The reduction of diazinon concentration was higher with the use of 1.5-inch magnetic bar than the 0.5-inch magnetic bar which revealed that stirring mechanism was significant for the diazinon reduction. The optimum time of treatment was identified as 100 min for SP seeds 0.2 g/mL and for the 10 mg/L solution of diazinon.