Millions of Jakartans to suffer water shortages

Millions of Jakartans to suffer water shortages

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Millions of Jakartans, who use groundwater from artesian wells,
will suffer water shortages up until August due to the current
dry season, an official said.

Head of the forecasting and services division of the
Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) Achmat Zakir said the
water crisis had begun to affect many areas in the city earlier
last month.

Zakir said the areas affected were mostly those that did not
have access to piped water and, in which, water pumps could no
longer pump up groundwater.

"I hope the city administration will continually monitor the
situation as the condition will worsen, as although there may be
some rainfall, it would not affect the water table," he told The
Jakarta Post on Saturday.

He said the rainfall only reached around 30 millimeters per
month and would not affect the groundwater during this year's dry
season.

The amount of rainfall needed to raise the water table would
be around 150 millimeter per month, he said.

According to Zakir, the ground surface in the city is very bad
for water conservation as most of the land is covered by
buildings and concreted facilities.

"Therefore, people are advised to minimize the use of water as
two months (without water) is not a short time to wait."

According to the data from the Jakarta Mining Agency,
the total consumption of clean water in the city is around 413
million cubic meters per year or some 1.1 million cubic meter per
day based on the assumption that Jakarta's population is 10.42
million.

City-owned tap water company PAM Jaya and its foreign business
partners can only supply some 51.25 of the total needs for clean
water.

The Jakarta Environment Management Agency (BPLHD) previously
revealed that 10 districts in the city were experiencing water
shortages, including Penjaringan, Cilincing, Tanjung Priok, Koja,
Pademangan, and Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta; Cengkareng and
Tambora in West Jakarta; and Sawah Besar and Kemayoran in Central
Jakarta.

There are some 2.09 million people living in areas affected by
water shortages where the depth of groundwater is between 12
meters and 16 meters, with a fluctuation in the water table of
between 6 meters and 8 meters.

Other districts that should also be alert to possible
shortages, according to the agency, include Grogol Petamburan,
Kebon Jeruk, Kembangan, Taman Sari in West Jakarta; Gambir,
Menteng, Tanah Abang, Setiabudi, Senen, Matraman, Johor Baru, and
Cempaka Putih in Central Jakarta, and Pulo Gadung and Cakung in
East Jakarta.

Some 2.35 million residents occupy these areas.

Separately, PAM Jaya's director Didiet Haryadi confirmed that
PAM Jaya had received reports of water shortages in the city.

"I have received reports of water shortages from several
areas. The pumps can no longer pump up groundwater from artesian
wells. This does not only happen in slums, but also in luxury
housing estates that are not linked to PAM Jaya," Didiet told the
Post on Saturday.

He said that his company and its private partners -- PT Thames
Pam Jaya and PT Pam Lyonaise Jaya -- had begun to supply clean
piped water to those areas.

According to Didiet, there are some 111 water trucks available
for transporting water -- 36 trucks owned by PD Pam Jaya and 75
others owned by municipalities and regencies which were provided
by the Ministry for Settlements and Regional Infrastructure last
year.

"We supply the water for free," he said, adding that customers
of the city-owned company had not experienced any shortages so
far.