Catchment wells already in use

Catchment wells already in use

JAKARTA (JP): At least 1,000 houses in Jakarta have already been furnished with catchment wells under the guidance of the City Environmental Office, an official said.

"Most of the 1,000 houses with the catchment wells are in housing complexes," Aboejoewono Aboeprajitno, the head of the environment office, said over the weekend.

"The catchment wells help maintain underground water levels. They are also effective in preventing floods," he added.

The city administration is trying to control artesian well use, fearing that excessive use will speed up the intrusion of seawater into the capital's ground water.

Aboejoewono said underground water usage must be limited. Stricter permit procedures are needed to avoid further degradation of the capital's land and water systems.

To accomplish this, the city raised household, commercial, social and industrial artesian well fees between 150 and 250 percent last month. The state-owned water company, PAM Jaya, is expected to be able to provide well-water to the public.

"The rapid growth in construction and the population has severely damaged a number of water catchment areas," Aboejoewono said.

"We have to be very careful with underground water because its existence depends on us. Trees are badly needed to help hold rainwater in the water catchment areas," he vouched.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said recently that the city's underground water potential is approximately 77 million cubic meters per year, enough to support the rise in water demand for the next ten years.

Of the 77 million cubic meters, 40 million cubic meters is from rain seeping into the ground, the other 37 million cubic meters is from the hilly Puncak area south of the city, he said.

Surjadi said that based on geological data, rainwater levels in the city reach about 300 million cubic meters annually, of which 260 million cubic meters seep into the upper level of the earth. The other 40 million cubic meters sink to a greater depth.

It is estimated that the sustainable utilization limit of existing water sources is 42 million cubic meters a year.

Data at the City Mining office indicates that there are 2,959 artesian wells in the city. They consumed over 2.8 million cubic meters of water in March. (31)