18 Kelurahan Di Jakut-Jakbar Alami Crisis Air PAM Berhari-hari, Ini Penyebabnya

Workers filled clean water sourced from PAM Jaya to jerry cans for sale in the Muara Angke area, Jakarta, Monday, July 2019. (ANTARA-Aprillio A)

JAKARTA - A total of 18 urban villages in North Jakarta and West Jakarta have experienced a water crisis in PAM for the last few days. The water supply to customers in these 18 urban villages has become minimal and even died.

Areas affected by this crisis include Penjaringan, Pejagalan, Pluit, Kapuk, Kalideres, Rawa Buaya, Pegadungan, West Cengkareng, East Cengkareng, Pegadungan, Semanan, Duri Kosambi, Wijaya Kusuma, Jelambar Baru, Kapuk Muara, Tegal Alur, Kamal, Kamal Muara, and surrounding areas.

President Director of Perumda PAM Jaya Arief Nasrudin explained that this water crisis occurred due to a decline in the quality of raw water at the City Forest Management Installation (IPA) since last September 8.

The decline in water quality to not comply with this standard is due to the impact of the Long dry season that hit the city of Jakarta.

"Kemarik Panjang ini menyebabkan ngoli air laut ke air sungai sehingga mengakibatkan total TDS (Total Dissolve Solid) yang menjadi kualitas air tidak sesuai dengan Permenkes. Berdasarkan standar Permenkes, TDS air harus di bawah 200 sedangkan saat ini TDS air baku yang ada di IPA Hutan Kota mencapai 2000," kata Arief dalam keterangannya, Kamis, 21 September.

Meanwhile, Arief admitted that the technology at the City Forest IPA does not have a desalination function. Thus, PAM Jaya must stop the City Forest IPA, which supplies as much as 450 liters per second.

"The impact of the dismissal has caused an area that previously received water supply from the City Forest IPA to stop," said Arief.

As an effort to improve, PAM Jaya reallocates points that have the potential to become a source of distribution to regulate traffic to the north and west of Jakarta.

Furthermore, PAM Jaya will maximize free tank water services as a form of assistance for people who experience water shortages.

"We will also carry out reinvestment in the form of installing new membranes to be able to process raw water that has high TDS or is able to unravel sea water. This reinvestment does take a long time," he said.