Florida Water Engineer Plans Aid for his Native Sri Lanka

Jayantha Obeysekera, a Sri Lanka native and the director of modeling for the South Florida Water Management District, wants to use his expertise to help tsunami survivors in Southern Asia.

According to an article appearing in the The South Florida Sun-Sentinel yesterday, he and about two dozen other district employees from the region have joined forces to address one of the biggest problems Sri Lankans, Indians, Indonesians and other Southern Asian citizens face: how to decontaminate the water supply.

Obeysekera and the others currently are reviewing plans for water purification devices, planning to provide guidance any way they can.

Over the long haul, he wants to open channels of communication between the Sri Lankan government and U.S. water managers.

At his district office in West Palm Beach, Obeysekera showed a picture of two red barrels connected by a hose, resting on a wooden crate and cinder blocks. Constructed by a Sri Lankan university, the apparatus costs between $50 and $100, and it would filter about 200 liters of water. He believes this could be useful in the region.

If a trip home would provide relief to his country, Obeysekera said he will take some time off. He has worked for the district since 1987.

Source: The South Florida Sun-Sentinel