PDAM to produce distilled water
PDAM to produce distilled water
Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang
In an effort to improve its service, the Padang tap water company
is planning to produce distilled water for hotels, offices and
upmarket housing estates, a state company official has said.
"We are making the plans now and we expect the project will
materialize by the end of next year," said Azhar Latif, the
president director of the tap water firm.
The company is introducing its new service on the back of
raising demands from middle- and upper-income customers for
distilled water.
The distilled water installation will first be constructed in
the Old Padang area where many hotels, government offices,
private company offices and housing estates are located.
Meeting the demand from government offices and hotels, the
company will change the pipes and replace them with the ones
suitable for distilled water.
Currently, there are 298 state tap water companies (PDAM)
across the archipelago and among that vast number of companies,
only a few have introduced distilled water services, including
Buleleng PDAM in Bali, Bandung, Malang, Bogor, Batam and Medan.
The service has been introduced as it offers competitive
advantages over the purchase of clean drinking water. With
distilled water, customers will not need to boil their water
before safely drinking it.
Azhar said that the company was also considering the mineral
water business to sell directly to the public. The company is
vying for a new line of business as demand for mineral water
among the public is also rising.
The distilled water and mineral water programs are part of the
companies effort to increase revenue.
Currently, the Padang PDAM has 400,000 customers,
approximately half the total population of Padang city. The
company has booked a profit of nearly Rp 2 billion (US$200,000) a
year, on average, over the past few years.
Although the company's performance has been improving in
recent years, Padang PDAM still has Rp 80 billion in debts to the
city government. The debts were inherited from mismanagement
during the New Order government.
In order to improve the company's financial performance,
Padang PDAM's management board is negotiating with the city
government to write off the debts.