Nov 19, Colombo: Sri Lanka's National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) says that 51% of the water supplied to the consumer is wasted.

The NWSDB says it supplies1.37 billion liters of water per day and the supply can be extended 20% more to 136,000 households that are without potable water if this waste is minimized.

Use of drinking water for other uses such as washing vehicles, bathing animals and watering plants etc. have caused the wastage, the NWSDB points out.

NWSDB presently supplies water to 1.3 million households and expects to increase it up to 2.2 million by the end of this year.