Colombo, August 02 (Daily Mirror) - The National Water Supply and Drainage Board emphasised that if the consumers clean and maintain their water collection tanks at least in three months, the tap water supplied by the board will be of high quality, even for direct consumption.

This was revealed when the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Sustainable Development met under the chairmanship of MP Ajith Mannapperuma recently.

The chairman of National Water Supply and Drainage Board said that even though it costs about 12 cents to provide a litre of tap water, the public who do not have any understanding in this regard spend about Rs. 150 and use bottled drinking water.

Attention was also focused on filling existing vacancies that require technical skills to run the work efficiently. The committee emphasised that urgent action should be taken regarding these vacancies.