Highrise building owners say ground water use necessary
Highrise building owners say ground water use necessary
JAKARTA (JP): In response to the city administration's appeal
to Jakartans to reduce dependence on ground water, owners of high
rise buildings say use of ground water is still necessary
although the piped water supply remains adequate.
Johny Onggo, director of PT Landmark and PT Ratu Sayang, which
own the Landmark and the Ratu Plaza buildings, told The Jakarta
Post yesterday that the tap water supply to the two buildings has
been adequate to date.
However, he said the two buildings will retain their own deep
wells to anticipate the water shortages that would occur should
the supply of piped water from the City Water Company, PDAM Jaya,
be interrupted.
"We use the deep wells particularly for emergency cases like
the way we use electricity generators as anticipatory measures if
lights go out," Onggo said.
Onggo said he was not aware that the city administration is
planning to raise the fees for drawing ground water from deep
wells and to impose more difficult requirements to get well
licenses.
"Formerly it was not that difficult," he said.
The City Council is reviewing a draft of the amended
regulation on well drilling submitted by the municipal
administration recently.
The proposed regulation stipulates between a 100 percent and
200 percent hike in ground water fees and stricter requirements
for the use of new deep wells in line with efforts to reduce
dependence on ground water among the residents of the capital.
Municipal officials and environmentalists warn that the supply
of ground water will be in jeopardy in most areas in the city,
including in water catchment sites, if no concrete measures are
taken to stop seawater intrusion, which has reached Senen in
Central Jakarta.
Djatikesumo Subagio of PT Pacific Metro Realty, which is
constructing the Empire Tower in Kuningan, South Jakarta, told
the Post that the clean water supply from PDAM Jaya is adequate
for daily needs at high rise buildings which house offices, but
when it comes to serving multi-story apartment blocks, deep wells
are necessary.
He gave the example of the Empire Tower apartment complex,
which has to use a well that is 150 meters deep. "We have applied
for a license for the deep well," he said.
Construction
Subagio said that based on his experience in constructing high
rise buildings, the tap water supply is not always available,
making another source of water a necessity.
Periodic shortages of tap water may not be a serious problem
in the high rise structures used as office buildings, but for
high rise apartments any shortage constitutes a major
inconvenience, especially at peak water consumption times,
Subagio said.
Besides, the flow of tap water is inconsistent and the supply
is not potable, Subagio said, explaining how tap water at his
home formed a sediment in his bathtub. "Who would drink that
water?" he asked.
Subagio said ground water is necessary to back up any failure
in the tap water supply. For that reason he is concerned about
the stiffer requirements to get licenses to drill new deep wells.
"The increase in the fees for pumping ground water may not be
a problem for us as long as our need for clean water is met,"
Subagio said.
Octavianus Geuther, the marketing manager of Shimizu
Corporation, told the Post, he prefers ground water to tap water.
"There is no guarantee that the tap water supply would suffice
your needs. Besides, tap water is more expensive than
ground water," Geuther said, adding that tap water is not
suitable for drinking.
If the fees for pumping out ground water are increased, "What
can we do but accept it?" he commented. (06)