Saving Water Beneath the Playing Field

Children run around a field located not far from the railway line in the Baros area of Cimahi City, West Java. Their voices can occasionally be heard amidst the activities of residents passing through the surrounding settlement. From its appearance, the field looks like a play area for children in many other places. However, for local residents, the field has another equally important function: a place to store water.

Around the area, rainwater, which was previously left unchecked during the rainy season and flowed away to unknown destinations, is now partially directed into channels leading to several infiltration points beneath the field. Residents planned these channels carefully. From the surface, the process is almost invisible. But underground, rainwater is stored to become a reserve when the dry season arrives.

A tank with a capacity of about 1,000 litres serves as the place where residents collect water when needed. Using a gravity-fed system, the water can be utilised without the need for a pump. For local residents, this method is the result of experience in dealing with droughts that used to recur every dry season. Now, as some regions begin to feel the threat of drought, this field serves as a reminder that the water that falls during the rainy season can be saved to face the dry days ahead. It is a water savings scheme.