U.S. Exports Making Drinking Water Safe in Sri Lanka

Photo courtesy of Tetra Tech Inc.

In Sri Lanka, only one of every three people can access safe, potable water through pipe systems. For the remaining population, it is estimated that roughly 80 percent of the country’s water supply is contaminated. Much of this is the result of the tsunami in 2004, during which tidal waves inundated the island nation’s freshwater aquifer with seawater.

Ex-Im Bank has authorized a direct loan of more than $64 million that will enable Tetra Tech Inc. of Pasadena, Calif., to construct a new water supply system in Sri Lanka. The construction will include new and rehabilitated treatment plants, storage tanks, pumping stations, a new dam, and more than 150 kilometers of transmission and distribution pipelines. When this system is in place, the government of Sri Lanka will be able to meet United Nations standards for providing safe drinking water to at least 85 percent of the population.

This transaction will support approximately 400 American jobs, with most centered in Denver and Longmont, Colo.; Morris Plains, N.J.; Langhorne, Pa.; and Fairfax, Va.

“This is the first full-scale, design-build water-supply project that Ex-Im Bank has financed for an international client,” said Dan Batrack, Tetra Tech chairman and CEO. “This transaction supports high-end technical jobs in the United States and allows us to take our best water services to where they are needed the most.”