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.