The Difficulty of Clean Water in Water Catchment Areas

Piped clean water cannot be enjoyed by all residents of the capital city. This issue is one of Jakarta's problems that needs the full attention of Jakarta leaders, including the acting governor.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Aerial photo of the Ring Reservoir used as the location for the 2022 World Water Day in Papanggo Village, Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, Tuesday (22/3/2022). The commemoration of World Water Day 2022 carries the theme of making people aware not to exploit groundwater which will have an impact on the future.

Deposits, such as iron rust mixed with mud, coats the inside of a 1-meter high plastic reservoir. That is one of the impacts of collecting water from wells in neighborhood and community unit RT 008 RW 008, Simprug, South Grogol, Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta.

Some of the 133 families or 398 residents of the area still depend on shallow groundwater for their daily needs. The condition of the residents' well varies. Some wells have water that is clear, pale and yellow or is muddy and smells like rust.

"It's always been like that. Only for showering and washing dishes. For washing white clothes, yellow stains will stick," said Rubai (60), on Monday (10/10/2022).

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Rubai's 17-meter-deep well looks clear since the 1980s, but foams when it flows into the bucket. The smell of rust and iron wafts in the air.

“For cooking and drinking, we buy refilled gallon water. Every two days a gallon runs out. The price is Rp 7,000 (46 US cents), cheaper than mineral water,” said Rubai, who lives with his wife and child.

His family has not switched to PAM Jaya piped water because of administrative problems, namely not having a Land and Building Tax document. Difficulties increase with the cost of connecting five pipes costing Rp 2.5 million.

Limited

Partinah (60), a resident of neighborhood and community unit RT 008 RW 008, has better luck. In addition to having clear water, her house was connected to PAM Jaya piped water five years ago when there was a promotion for the installation of Rp 600,000.

However, Partinah still uses the well for her daily needs. She also shares the water with her neighbors. "PAM water runs smoothly, but every day from 10:00 p.m.to 5:00 a.m. the water turns off," she said.

Partinah and her children are a part of three families. They pay Rp 51,000 to Rp 52,000 per month for the use of PAM water.

Massive use of groundwater occurs in South Jakarta, a water catchment area in the capital city due to good water conditions.

The condition in neighborhood unit RT 008 is a snapshot of the lack of optimal water management in the capital city. Based on data from the DKI Jakarta Office of Industry and Energy, the total use of groundwater was 8.15 million cubic meters in 2018 and 6.69 million cbm as of September 2019. South Jakarta is the area that uses the most groundwater, namely 4.34 million cbm in 2018 and 3.76 million cbm in 2019.

Kebayoran Lama district is in the highest position for groundwater use in Jakarta. The amount reaches 1.33 million cbm.

Massive use of groundwater occurs in South Jakarta, a water catchment area in the capital city due to good water conditions. This is in contrast to North Jakarta and the Thousand Islands which have salty groundwater, so the volume of use is lower.

At the same time, PAM Jaya's service coverage up until October 2022 is 65.85 percent of the entire Jakarta area. The coverage consists of 913,913 customers, a pipe length of 12,075 kilometers, a production capacity of 20,082 liters per second and 46.47 percent of water loss or non revenue water.

KOMPAS/FRANSISKUS WISNU WARDHANA DANY

Residents of RT 008 RW 008, Simprug, South Grogol Village, Kebayoran Lama District, South Jakarta utilize groundwater for daily needs, Monday (10/10/2022).

Accurate decision

Hidayat Pawitan, Professor of Hydrology for Water Resources at IPB University, said that PAM Jaya must meet the needs of clean water for the health of residents while the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government limits the use of ground water by industries, including hotels.

“PAM Jaya fulfills the need for clean water so that residents do not take groundwater. The provincial government must work effectively with the right, simple principles,” he said.

The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government issued Governor Regulation Number 93 of 2021 on Groundwater Free Zones. This means that the zone without groundwater extraction or utilization is in accordance with the consideration of the capability of the aquifer condition, the groundwater conservation zoning map and the support for a piped clean water network.

The target of a groundwater-free zone referring to Article 2 is a building with a floor area of 5,000 square meters or more and buildings with eight floors or more. For the prohibition of taking or utilizing groundwater, Article 8 stipulates that every building owner or manager in Article 2 is prohibited from taking or utilizing groundwater starting 1 August 2023, except for dewatering activities.

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Dewatering is the control of water to dry excavation areas that will be used for underground building for various purposes. Each violation will be subject to administrative sanctions in succession; initially a written warning, then a temporary suspension of activities, continued with the freezing and revocation of permits.

"Slowly, groundwater use has been reduced by the existence of a groundwater-free zone," said Rachmat Fajar Lubis, a researcher at the Research Center for Limnology and Water Resources at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).

Rachmat as the chairman of the Groundwater Interaction Research Group also encourages additional efforts so that Governor Regulation Number 93 of 2021 is optimal. The provincial government can use cheap and affordable clean water treatment technology at the subdistrict level, such as filtering water according to local needs and harvesting rainwater for non-consumption needs.

“Water conservation does not have to be infiltration wells, lakes, reservoirs or infiltration ditches. Reforestation can also be good ground water conservation,” he said.

Water conservation is needed and expanding the coverage of pipelines must come into realization, so that the environment is maintained and the residents' needs for clean water are met.

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.