City's ground water supply enough for 10 years' demand
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said yesterday that the potential of ground water in the city reaches approximately 77 million cubic meters per year, enough to support rising water demand for the next ten years.
After meeting with President Soeharto to report on the city's preparation for the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, Surjadi said that out of the 77 million cubic meters, 40 million cubic meters are derived from rain seeping into the ground with the other 37 million cubic meters coming from the Puncak hilly area south of the city.
Surjadi said that based on geological data, rainwater levels in the city reach about 300 million cubic meters annually, of which 760 million cubic meters seep into the upper level of the ground and the other 40 million cubic meters into greater depths.
"The sustainable utilization limit of existing water sources is estimated at 42 million per annum," he said, adding that water consumption from the artesian wells in the city reaches 33 million cubic meters per year.
The governor said that 33 million cubic meters of water are produced by 2,898 artesian well operators throughout the city. "If the rate in the water demand rises by 1.5 million cubic meters per year, the existing resources are projected to be capable of supporting rising demand for the next ten years," he added.
Surjadi said that the city administration is currently studying the possibility of reviewing regulations regarding the operation of artesian wells.
The city will also prohibit quarrying activities on critical lands so as to help prevent destruction of water catchment areas, which are vital to help save water resources, he said, adding that reforestation drives and river cleanliness programs will also be intensified.
He acknowledged, however, that it will not be an easy task to change habits in order to help save water.
The city administration will also cooperate with the West Java provincial government to protect the Puncak area.
Artesian wells
In a related development, the head of the City Office of Mining, Arifin Akbar, said that the city administration will free a number of areas in Pulo Gadung in East Jakarta and Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Jend. Sudirman in Central Jakarta from artesian wells starting next year.
"There are 80 legal artesian wells along Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman and each has a capacity of 100 cubic-meters per day," Arifin told reporters yesterday.
He also explained that eventually all the city's five mayoralties may be free of artesian wells.
He explained that the depth of artesian wells, used and owned mostly by hotels and office buildings, range from 40 to 250 meters.
In 1993/1994 there were 36 artesian wells which were closed down voluntarily by their owners and another 99 illegal ones by the city officers.
The number of illegal artesian wells closed by the city authorities in the current 1994/95 fiscal year, starting last April, reached 59 with another 137 closed by their owners.
He also said that it is not fair to blame artesian wells as the sole cause of land degradation in the city. It is possible that the land quality and the weight of the many building weights are also affecting it.
"Right now we have installed special equipment to find out the real cause of land degradation," Arifin said. (yns/hhr)