Since at least two decades, Chronic Kidney Disease of Uncertain Etiology (CKDu) has become an increasingly discussed health issue in Sri Lanka and as well as in other tropical regions. Areas that are particularly affected with the disease are mostly located in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. The disease is more prominent among communities that consume groundwater as their main source of drinking water. Hydrogeochemical investigations were carried out in the Ginnoruwa area, a known hotspot of CKDu. It revealed possible links between drinking water chemistry and the spreading of the disease. This work compares hydrogeochemical data of drinking water sources of wells whose consumers are affected by CKDu and other nearby wells whose consumers were not affected by the disease. A total of 63 groundwater samples were collected from selected wells. About one-third of these samples (i.e., 19) were collected from wells used by CKDu patients. Significantly higher values of pH, total hardness, electrical conductivity, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, F⁻, Cl⁻, PO₄³⁻, and SO₄²⁻ were found in wells that were used by CKDu patients. Mean contents of Na⁺, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺ in CKDu affected wells were 33.8 mg/L, 30.1 mg/L, and 14.9 mg/L, respectively, compared to 23.1 mg/L, 26.7 mg/L, and 9.65 mg/L in non-CKDu wells. Differences in major ion geochemistry in groundwaters are possibly governed by variable time periods of water storage in fractured hard rock aquifers in this region. Hydrogeochemical parameters were statistically compared by a Mann–Whitney U test and indicated significant differences in total dissolved solids (TDS) (p = 0.016), SO₄²⁻ (p = 0.005), PO₄³⁻ (p = 0.030), F⁻ (p = 0.048), Na⁺ (p = 0.008), and Mg²⁺(p = 0.008) between non-CKDu and CKDu wells at p = 0.050 level. Other suspected solutes such as nephrotoxic trace elements including As, Cd, and Pb were similar in both types of wells. They were also lower than the accepted guideline limits of the World Health Organization (WHO). Results of this study suggest that fluoride in drinking water in combination with water hardness may be one of the responsible factors for kidney damage and progression of the disease. This may be particularly the case when elevated amounts of Mg²⁺ are present in hard groundwater.

至少在过去的二十年中，慢性肾脏病的病因不明（CKDu）在斯里兰卡和其他热带地区已成为日益受到关注的健康问题。受该病影响特别严重的地区大多位于斯里兰卡的干旱地区。在以地下水为主要饮用水源的社区中，该病更为突出。在金杜鲁瓦地区（CKDu的一个已知热点）进行了水文地球化学研究。它揭示了饮用水化学成分与疾病传播之间的可能联系。这项工作比较了消费者受到CKDu影响的水井和其他消费者不受疾病影响的附近水井的饮用水水文地球化学数据。从选定的井中总共收集了63个地下水样品。这些样本中大约三分之一（即19个）是从CKDu患者使用的井中收集的。pH值，总硬度，电导率，Ca值明显更高²⁺，镁²⁺，F ^- ，氯^-，PO ₄ ^3-和SO ₄ ^2-中的用于通过CKDu患者认为井被发现了。CKDu受影响的孔中Na ⁺，Ca ²⁺和Mg ^2+的平均含量分别为33.8 mg / L，30.1 mg / L和14.9 mg / L，而23.1 mg / L，26.7 mg / L和在非CKDu孔中为9.65 mg / L。地下水中主要离子地球化学的差异可能受该地区裂隙硬岩含水层中储水时间变化的影响。通过Mann-Whitney U检验对水文地球化学参数进行了统计学比较，结果表明总溶解固体（TDS）有显着差异（p  = 0.016），SO ₄ ^2-（p  = 0.005），PO ₄ ^3-（p  = 0.030），F ^- （p  = 0.048），钠⁺（p  = 0.008）和Mg ²⁺（p  = 0.008）在p处的非CKDu和CKDu孔之间 = 0.050水平。在两种类型的井中，其他可疑溶质（如肾毒性微量元素，包括As，Cd和Pb）均相似。它们也低于世界卫生组织（WHO）接受的准则限制。这项研究的结果表明，饮用水中的氟化物与水的硬度相结合可能是导致肾脏损害和疾病进展的重要因素之一。当硬地下水中存在较高含量的Mg ²⁺时，尤其如此。