Monitoring water the best way to avert crisis: Experts

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Once an ubiquitous natural resource, water has now become an overpriced commodity.

Periods of insufficient raw water supply in the city -- blamed on inappropriate development, which has reduced the number of catchment areas and polluted rivers and groundwater -- have brought the capital to the brink of a water crisis.

Some scientists say severe water shortages could occur in a decade, others project three years.

But many experts refuse to see a water crisis as inevitable, insisting precautions can be taken to ensure the city has a sustainable water system.

Alizar Anwar, a consultant to the Jakarta Water Regulatory Body, said the city administration had recently proposed a number of methods for industries and residents to save water, but had missed out the one he considered most effective.

"It is good to have percolation pits to save groundwater, but first things first ... the city administration has to establish a system to monitor both the quantity and quality of water," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

In monitoring water quantity, he said, the administration should first address the problem of leaking pipes. .

He said the piped water production capacity in Jakarta should be 16 cubic meters per second. However, due to leakages -- caused by the poor condition of Dutch-era pipes and a general lack of maintenance -- the capacity had been reduced by half.

"If the leaked water was collected, Jakarta might have another Kalimalang River on its hands," Alizar said, explaining that the mean flow of water in the river, which runs across the eastern part of Greater Jakarta, was only five cubic meters per second.

He said the administration should cooperate with its business partners in piped water distribution and neighboring regions in upstream areas to ensure the good quality of raw water.

"Investment in water treatment has resulted in a higher water tariff ... consumers have been led to use more groundwater, which could cause seawater intrusion, sedimentation and land subsidence. And we don't want that to happen," Alizar argued.

Meanwhile, Sutjipto from the Jakarta-based Water and Sanitation Network (JAS) said it was important to monitor the quantity and quality of water in Jakarta to cut down on guesswork.

"Currently most of us have based our arguments on assumptions about the condition of the water in Jakarta. We could say the condition of the water in the Ciliwung River is poor because we observe riverbank dwellers and industries disposing of wastewater and garbage in the river and using it again for daily activities, even to drink."

This theme of this year's World Water Day, which falls on Thursday, is raw water scarcity in many parts of the world.

Sutjipto said that instead of worrying about the possibility of a water crisis in the near future, people should concern themselves with the quality of the city's water now.

"The water -- both inland and groundwater -- is heavily polluted. The high incidence of waterborne diseases, which kill babies and toddlers, and the fact that almost half of the Indonesian people have had diarrheal diseases should have forced regional administrations, industries and residents to be more concerned about the environment."