Protecting water sources

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.