'I am using bottled water for drinking'

Many residents in Jakarta have to turn to bottled-water to fulfill their basic needs of a clean water supply. City-owned tap water company PAM Jaya has yet to develop a city-wide water network due to financial constraints. Even those who can access the service complain of its availability and quality. Using ground water is not always a viable option. Several residents share their experiences with The Jakarta Post.

Ratna Sari Dewi, 29, an engineer for a construction firm in South Jakarta. She and her husband live at the Nuansa Biru housing complex in Kampung Rambutan, East Jakarta:

My housing complex is yet to be serviced by PAM Jaya so we have to use ground water although the quality is not very good.

PAM Jaya requires that residents in the housing complex petition it before they can supply our area with tap water because they have to add new pipes, which is expensive.

I just hope that the quality will be as good as the tap water in my parents' house in Cipete, South Jakarta.

Now we have to rely on ground water for our daily needs, except for drinking. We use bottled water.

Although the ground water is clear, it causes yellowish stains on clothes, especially the white ones. I have to install a water purifier to get clean water.

I also had a sample of it tested at PAM Jaya's laboratory to determine its quality. Although the laboratory declared it to be potable, it still leaves a trace on clothes.

Helda, 26, is a recent university graduate and still lives with her parents in Bintaro Jaya:

My family used to have tap water but now we only use ground water. The quality of the tap water is even worse than the ground water's quality.

Unfortunately, we cannot use the ground water for drinking and cooking so we have to rely on bottled water. The ground water has a yellowish slime texture.

Most of my neighbors use both ground water and tap water as their back ups.

Yuliana Setianingsih, 26, is a freelance writer who lives in Condet, East Jakarta with her husband:

I prefer using ground water as it is cleaner and more reliable than tap water provided by PAM Jaya.

In fact, I always check the condition of ground water before I rent a house. At least I can judge from its clarity although I have not had it checked at any laboratories.

PAM Jaya's water is not of good quality, is usually unclean and is limited in quantity. Worse still, most of the time we can only use it late in the evening.

I only use tap water as a back up as I use ground water for my daily needs.

Unfortunately, the ground water quality has been getting worse lately, perhaps because of the dry season. I have to use bottled water now for cooking and drinking.

Evita, not her real name, is running a food stall business. She lives with her family in Grogol, West Jakarta:

The service quality of the tap water company is getting worse while consumers have to pay exorbitant prices for their water supply. I have to pay more than Rp 200,000 a month for the tap water.

The water is always dirty and not worth drinking. We have to sterilize it if we want to drink it. But for bathing and washing that's okay. Maybe there are many leaks in the supply pipes.

However, I have a dilemma as I have to take the best one out of the bad choices. If I drink ground water from the well in my house, it tastes brackish and salty, while the tap water is always unclean and unhealthy. So, what should I do now?