Protecting water sources

Sudibyo M. Wiradji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The quality of Indonesia's water sources continues to be degraded with the widespread use of rivers to dump industrial and household waste.

Consequently, many existing water sources have been polluted and contaminated with hazardous substances such as asbestos, lead and mercury.

The deteriorating quality of raw water and the scarcity of water sources have made it even more difficult for the country's tap water and bottled water producers to provide clean water.

Tap water operators PT Thames Pam Jaya (TPJ), PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) and their partner, the city-owned water company Pam Jaya, have to make extra efforts to provide clean water for customers because much of their raw water is sourced from heavily polluted rivers.

Raw water for TPJ and Palyja's treatment plants comes to Jakarta from the Jatiluhur reservoir in West Java and through the West Tarum Canal system covering about 78 kilometers.

The quality of the raw water is seriously degraded during this journey, especially when it reaches Jakarta, where many industries, including hospitals, dispose their untreated waste into the rivers, not to mention the garbage from households. This pollution also occurs in Bekasi River, one of the three rivers that intersect the West Tarum Canal.

To ensure the quality of the water complies with the standards set by the Ministry of Health, TPJ, for example, has had to adopt a daily monitoring system of its water sources.

"Monitoring starts from the raw water that the company receives from Kalimalang River, to water processing, production and distribution," said TPJ public relations manager Devy A Yheanne.

At least 1,000 samples of water are taken for quality analysis every month.

"We also involve an independent party in monitoring the water quality on a regular basis," she said.

The poor quality of the raw water supply makes the company's water treatment operations very expensive, especially during the dry season when pollution levels in the raw water rise.

In addition to the high-cost of treatment, unauthorized connections also hamper the company's efforts to provide clean and cheap water to its customers.

For tap water companies like TPJ and Palyja, efforts toward providing safe and affordable water do not rely only on the companies' sophisticated technology, but also the people's participation in helping to protect water sources, particularly changing their habit of dumping garbage into the rivers.

Water theft is also another growing problem. The increasing number of unauthorized connections has made things even worse because the illegal connections often disrupt the supply to paying customers.

This explains why educating people has become a top priority of the two companies. TPJ has introduced a regular public relations campaign to improve the people's awareness of the need to conserve and protect water sources. The campaign has included training programs and a writing competition for students.

Meanwhile, more residents of West Jakarta, South Jakarta and parts of Central and North Jakarta have access to clean water following Palyja's effort to develop and repair its water pipe network.

The company now provides to over 2.9 million customers. As of November 2004, the company has invested Rp 748 billion in infrastructure and clean water facilities, with some of this money going to repair existing pipelines.

"More efforts will be taken to rehabilitate old or damaged pipes and to replace broken ones in order to reduce leakage," said Palyja public relations manager Maria Sidabutar.

Palyja's water treatment plants include one in Pejompongan in West Jakarta, Cilandak in South Jakarta and Taman Kota in Central Jakarta.

The company is also actively engaged in hunting for illegal connections. "We also encourage the public to inform us of any leakage or illegal connections so that the problem can be solved quickly," Maria said.

She said people played an imported role in improving and maintaining the quality of water. Therefore, since its establishment in 1998, the company has made various efforts to promote awareness among the public of the importance of protecting and conserving water sources.

Following its successful program to provide basic information on the importance of clean water to elementary school students and teachers in 2001, Palyja recently launched a campaign involving non-governmental organizations and village leaders. As part of this program, the NGOs and village leaders will be encouraged to implement water conservation programs in cooperation with the company.

Concern over the need to protect and conserve existing water sources is also shared by bottled water companies such as PT Aqua Golden Mississippi.

Aqua, which uses natural water sources from mountain springs, is involved in re-greening projects in water catchments areas around Mount Salak in West Java, from where its raw water is sourced. These include water catchments areas in Kubang, Babakan, Pari and Sukabumi.

In carrying out these programs, Aqua works with various parties and organizations, including the Bogor Botanical Gardens, local administrations, non-governmental organizations and village leaders.

The Bogor Botanical Gardens advises the company on matters related to planting trees to re-green water catchment areas.

"They know how to select quality seeds for conservation," said PT Aqua Golden Mississippi corporate secretary Parmuningsih Hadinegoro.

Aqua also plans to introduce the government-initiated "Bank of Trees" program.

"Under this program, we will provide quality seeds needed for re-greening projects in the country," Parmuningsih said.