Flushing work affects water service
Flushing work affects water service
JAKARTA (JP): Poor tap water service will continue to affect
customers in certain parts of the city over the next one to two
years due to a pipeline flushing project, an executive at a tap
water company said on Wednesday.
John Hurcom, president of PT Thames Pam Jaya (TPJ), a partner
of city-owned water company PDAM Jaya, said that during the
repair work customers' tap water would be discolored because of
sediment from the flushed pipes.
"The flushing work is needed in areas where pipelines are
filled with sediment. It is difficult to predict when and which
areas will be flushed because there are so many bad pipes," he
said.
He also said that the discoloration might also be caused by
water contamination from leakage in the pipes or seepage from
groundwater.
Hurcom expected improvement in the tap water service after the
installation of new pipelines, which is predicted to be completed
in one to two years.
Nani Sariati, sales and marketing manager for TPJ, which is
responsible for supplying water to eastern Jakarta, said that the
flushing would be conducted in areas where old pipeline networks
had not been replaced.
As earlier reported, several city residents living in the
areas supplied by TPJ and Pam Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja), a PDAM
Jaya partner which supplies water to western Jakarta, complained
about tap water discoloration.
Corry, a university student living in the Cawang area of East
Jakarta, complained that she was forced to buy drinking water
because she was afraid of drinking the brownish tap water.
"It cost me more money, but it's better than being sick," she
said.
Sondang, a resident of Jatinegara, East Jakarta, had the same
experience. "Our tap water is discolored sometimes, but not every
day. It's quite annoying because my mother is even afraid of
using the water to wash white dresses."
Tap water in certain areas of Central Jakarta, which is
supplied by Palyja, is also problematic. Heniawati, who lives in
the Menteng area of Central Jakarta, said that she was also
forced to buy drinking water.
"This is the first time the tap water has been discolored
since I've lived here, which has been about two years," she said.
Nani explained that TPJ had thus far replaced old pipelines in
Kelapa Gading and Sindang in North Jakarta, and Klender in East
Jakarta.
"We have established a team which specializes in searching for
pipeline leakages and repairing the leaks. Up until now we have
repaired 200 kilometers of pipelines out of the 4,100 km network
under TPJ's authority," she said.
The company has found and repaired more than 20,000 leaks
since the start of its operation last year, she said. (ind)