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)