Water Leakage Rate In Jakarta Is Still High, PAM Jaya Prioritizes Pipe Replacement In These 6 Regions

Illustration-(Photo: DOK ANTARA)

JAKARTA - President Director of Perumda PAM Jaya Arief Nasrudin admitted that the water loss rate in the piped clean water network (NRW) in DKI Jakarta is currently still high, at 45 percent. On that basis, PAM Jaya started replacing a new pipe from an existing pipe that was old so that there would be no more water leaks flowing to people's homes. "Currently, we don't want the pipes to be repaired, we will change all of them, because the pipes are old," said Arief at DKI Jakarta City Hall, Central Jakarta, Tuesday, February 27. There are six priority areas for the rehabilitation of clean water pipes carried out, namely in East Jakarta including Kampung Melayu, Duren Sawit, and Pulomas; South Jakarta in Asem Baris; and West Jakarta in Kebon Jeruk and Abdul Wahab. Currently, the progress of the repair work is still ongoing. Arief explained, the number of piped water leaks in these six areas is the highest compared to other regions, with a figure of around 44 percent to 93 percent as of April 2023. "If (the change of pipes in 6 locations) can be completed, we hope to remain at tens of percent. It's okay to be below 20 percent. That will decrease from 46.7 percent," explained Arief. "Well, these 6 (regions) have a small impact, maybe only 1 percent of the total. However, we will have a lessons learning that we will copy and paste (to other regions)," he continued. On that occasion, Arief revealed the reason why PAM Jaya did not rejuvenate pipes simultaneously in all areas of Jakarta. Apart from requiring a large amount of money, the pipeline replacement project carried out with excavation work will cause traffic jams. "We don't do it from the top down. Because if all the pipes are replaced, the investment is extraordinary. Then you can imagine if we do an additional 7,000 kilometers of pipes, we will repair one 12,000 kilometers. What does the Jakarta chaos look like?" added Arief. For information, the DKI Provincial Government has assigned PAM Jaya as a BUMD to meet 100 percent of the coverage of water services in all areas of Jakarta by 2030. Meanwhile, currently the achievement is still 65.85 percent.

Therefore, PAM Jaya is carrying out a number of efforts to fulfill service coverage starting from the construction of drinking water supply systems (SPAM), construction of giant water reservoirs or communal reservoirs, changing pipes, installing new pipes, to increasing customers.