THE UNDERGROUND
BRICK DOME TANK
(5M3), SRI LANKA
A CASE STUDY
This is RWH system, developed by the CWSSP programme in Sri Lanka. The tank, a 5m3
underground brick built tank, is based loosely on the design of the Chinese below ground biogas
tank. Indeed, the Sri Lankan engineer who designed the system had studied for some years in
China. This is a good example of cross fertilisation of technologies across cultures, as well as
the application of appropriate technology.
Again, this system was introduced due to the difficulties faced in bringing water to this
community in a conventional manner. There was a lot of opposition to the RWH technology in
the area at first, as it was a technology that was not widely known in the area. Now, after 2 years
using the rainwater falling on her roof, Mrs. Emsayakar, of Batalahena Village near the town
Matara, sees things very differently.
Figure 1: detail drawing of the Sri Lankan brick dome tank
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