The narrow alleyways of Margorejo have truly been transformed. The\nfoul smells and piles of rubbish that once made the area oppressive have\nbeen replaced by rows of thriving potted plants and taps delivering a\nsteady supply of clean water to residents\u2019 kitchens.<\/p>\n
Surakarta, Central Java (ANTARA) \u2014 From the living room of a\n6-by-12-metre house in Margorejo, Gilingan ward, Banjarsari district,\nSurakarta, 77-year-old Suwarno watches children playing as residents\ncome and go.<\/p>\n
In the relatively cramped home, the retired civil servant shares a\nroof with five children and several grandchildren. For years, the cost\nof obtaining clean water for drinking and cooking steadily ate into his\nfamily\u2019s daily budget.<\/p>\n
Like most residents of densely populated Margorejo, Suwarno\u2019s family\nhas its own bore well. Surakarta lies in a fertile basin bordered by\nMount Merapi, Mount Merbabu and Mount Lawu, making shallow groundwater\neasy to access by drilling only a dozen or so metres.<\/p>\n
But the abundance of groundwater brings problems. Well water is often\ncloudy and chalky, and its quality deteriorates sharply as supplies\ndwindle during prolonged dry spells.<\/p>\n
Poor well-water quality forced Suwarno to spend as much as Rp80,000 a\nmonth on four branded five-gallon bottles of drinking water. He had\nlittle choice if he wanted to protect his family from the risk of\ndigestive illnesses.<\/p>\n
For a pensioner supporting a large family, spending tens of thousands\nof rupiah on drinking water is no small expense. Moreover, shallow wells\nin densely populated neighbourhoods pose a latent threat far more\nserious than mineral deposits.<\/p>\n
Periodic laboratory tests by the relevant agencies have repeatedly\ndetected Escherichia coli (E. coli) contamination in shallow wells in\ndensely populated parts of Surakarta, including Gilingan, Semanggi,\nMojo, Joyontakan, Sangkrah and Kadipiro.<\/p>\n
Septic-tank soakaways may be only a few handspans from bore wells\nbeneath residents\u2019 floors, allowing faecal contamination to enter their\nwater supplies. Water contamination and poor environmental sanitation\nalso led the Surakarta City Government to designate RW 10 in Gilingan as\na priority area for stunting interventions.<\/p>\n
In these circumstances, low-income residents such as Suwarno have few\noptions. Connecting to the municipal water utility, PDAM, can be costly\nand complicated by questions over land ownership, while government\ntechnical agencies have strictly prohibited deep-well drilling to\nconserve urban groundwater.<\/p>\n
A turning point for Margorejo residents came with the introduction of\na communal master-meter scheme using pumped water, through a partnership\nbetween PDAM Surakarta, Coca-Cola Foundation Indonesia (CCFI) and the\nInstitute for Rural Technology Development (LPTP). A health-standard\nmain water pipe now supplies the densely populated neighbourhood, with\nthe supply divided among individual meters managed by the Margorejo\nCommunity Self-Help Group (KSM).<\/p>\n
The master-meter system immediately cut water costs for low-income\nhouseholds by as much as 70 per cent. Suwarno has seen the benefits\nsince his home was connected to the PDAM pumping system a year ago. His\nmonthly spending has fallen from Rp80,000 to just Rp25,000, now covering\nboth drinking and cooking water. The supply is also more hygienic,\ndisinfected with chlorine, free from chalky deposits and no longer\naffected by dry-season shortages.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/surakartas-dense-settlement-transformed-1791773611", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }