Tangerang to control groundwater usage

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang

The Tangerang regency administration will be the first administration to control groundwater usage at industrial plants and residential areas,the exploitation of which has caused land subsidence and seawater intrusion.

Head of the Tangerang environmental impact management agency Deden Sugandhi said the administration had installed an automatic water level recording (AWRL) device designed by the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

"We started to use the devise last month," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

The transmitters were installed to record groundwater levels at several wells in Bintaro, Serpong and Pasar Kemis districts.

The data will be transmitted via satellite to the monitoring computer screen at the environmental management agency office.

Deden said all industrial firms that have secured groundwater use permits will have their wells numbered for easy control.

"If the graph on the screen shows a vertical line, it means that the usage of groundwater is high. If the users have increased the capacity of the water pumps, officials will call them up and warn them to halt usage for a while," he said.

Deden revealed that the agency will use more sophisticated technology in the near future.

"With the new technology, we can order the users to stop using the wells directly from the office if the companies use excessive groundwater."

He added the office had recorded an excessive use of groundwater in Pasar Kemis district, but did not say whether the office had asked the users to stop taking water from the wells.

"Any firm that intends to extend their permits for groundwater usage must first equip their wells with the device to enable us to monitor them around the clock," Deden said.