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)