Pollution of Cisadane River continues

Pollution of Cisadane River continues

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang

"I still remember when the water in the Cisadane River was very
clean -- I could clearly see fish swimming around," 65-year-old
Mahudi, a resident of Pasar Baru subdistrict, said as he
reminisced about his childhood.

The man, who has 10 grandchildren, said he was still able to
see the bottom of the seven-meter-deep river back then and swim
near the Pintu Sepuluh dam, which was only 200 meters away from
his parents' home.

"Look at the river now -- no one can see the bottom of it,
despite being only about two meters deep. The water is filthy
because of the silt. It's also dirty, smelly and heavily
polluted," he complained.

The country's development over the past three decades has
meant that many industrial firms have sprung up along the
riverbanks. These firms are alleged to be the most serious
polluters of the river, and are suspected of continuously dumping
their liquid waste directly into the water course.

However, the polluted river has been the main source of water
for Tangerang regency and municipality water suppliers, namely
PDAM Tirta Kerta Raharja and PDAM Tirta Dharma. Both operators
take and process the polluted water to serve the daily needs of
their 500,000 customers.

That figure excludes thousands of locals living along the
riverbanks who also use the river water for their daily needs --
for washing, bathing and even cooking, the latter without proper
sterilization beforehand.

PDAM Tirta Kerta Raharja spokesman Anda Suhanda told The
Jakarta Post recently that the pollution in the river water,
allegedly attributable to industrial liquid waste, had given rise
to huge water processing costs to render the water safe for use
by customers.

The company produces an average 4,500 liters of clean water
per second. The water is distributed daily, via a piped network,
to around 110,000 houses across Tangerang regency and
municipality, and the western part of Jakarta.

Meanwhile, PDAM Tirta Dharma spokesman Indra Wawan said the
latest water sample, which was taken from the river and examined
by a Sucofindo surveyor, indicated that the water contained 2.97
milligrams (mg) of oil and grease, 1.44 mg of ammonia, 0.5 mg of
manganese, 10.5 mg of nitrate, 1.16 mg of iron and 0.001 mg of
mercury per liter.

He said all the chemical substances greatly exceeded the
limits set out in Government Regulation No. 82/2001. The
regulation stipulates that each substance contained in the water
is limited to only 0.3 mg per liter.

"Of all these substances, mercury is the most dangerous. It
cannot be broken down in the human body at all. If someone
continues to consume the water, the mercury level inside his body
will also continue to accumulate. In the end, it will have an
impact on brain function," he said.

Both Anda and Indra blamed officials at the regency and the
municipality environmental agencies for their failure to control
better the illegal dumping of liquid waste into the river.

Despite the possible danger for customers, the polluted water
had also damaged the environment, as Sukawali village head
Chaerudin complained.

"The polluted river water has also killed fish in ponds, the
area of which extends to around 200 hectares," he told the Post.

However, regency and municipality environmental agency heads
Deden Sugandhi and M. Akip denied accusations that they had
failed to control the illegal dumping of waste into the river.

"It's impossible for us to monitor hundreds of industrial
firms that allegedly dump their liquid waste into the river at
night," Deden said, adding that they lacked manpower and
equipment.

In a recent operation by the agency involving at least 210
industrial firms, only 60 were found to have liquid waste
treatment facilities, although the quality of the facilities was
questionable. Fifty others did not have the necessary liquid
waste treatment equipment and the other 100 produced only solid
waste.