Water in Nuwara Eliya’s Gregory Lake is polluted to a degree that could pose a serious risk to human life if consumed, according to Central Environmental Authority findings presented to a district committee.
The results were disclosed by Manjula Suraweera Arachchi, MP and chairman of the Nuwara Eliya District Coordinating Committee, who said the CEA had tabled them at a recent District Development Committee meeting. He said the authority had scientifically confirmed that drinking the water could even prove fatal.
The readings
The CEA data cited by the MP records a phosphate concentration of 1.04 milligrams in the lake, against a normal level of around 0.20 milligrams — roughly five times higher. Nitrogen stands at 3.70 milligrams where about 0.50 milligrams would be expected, more than seven times the normal figure, and biochemical oxygen demand has risen to 9.72 milligrams. Neither Ada Derana nor the Daily Mirror reported the volume the measurements are expressed against, and no laboratory reference standard was named.
Biochemical oxygen demand measures how much dissolved oxygen is consumed by organisms breaking down organic matter. High readings indicate heavy organic loading and correspondingly less oxygen for aquatic life.
Silted feeder reservoirs
Gregory Lake was created during the British colonial period and was originally fed by a series of small upstream reservoirs. Suraweera Arachchi said those reservoirs have silted up over the years, so that pesticides, fertilisers, other agricultural chemicals and waste from surrounding up-country farmland now flow directly into the lake and have altered its water composition.
He said the deviations from normal water quality were significant enough to require urgent attention to prevent further environmental damage and risks to public health.
The Ministry of Environment, the Urban Development Authority and the Irrigation Department are working through a joint committee on further measures, according to Ada Derana.
Neither report identified when the samples were taken, how many sampling points were used, or whether the lake is used as a drinking water source. Gregory Lake is a central feature of Nuwara Eliya’s tourist economy, drawing visitors for boat rides and lakeside walks; the town moved to regulate boat operations there in April after a jet ski overturned a passenger boat.
