Not Only Jakut, South Jakarta's Surface Also Down Due To Groundwater Use

Rudy Suhendar, while serving as Head of the Geological Agency, said that land subsidence aka land subsidence in DKI was one of the factors due to exploitation of groundwater or excessive retrieval. (Between-Oky Lukmansyah)

JAKARTA - There are predictions that the ground surface in the capital, especially North Jakarta, will sink due to the continuous use of groundwater.

However, the Head of the Clean Water Supply Division of the DKI Jakarta Water Resources Agency, Elisabeth Tarigan, said that land subsidence did not only occur in northern Jakarta.

"When I was little, I made a pump well with only a depth of 10 meters. Now, 20 meters must only be able to make a pump. It means that there is a decline that is not realized. This is what is not clearly realized," Elisabeth said in a discussion at DKI Jakarta City Hall, Wednesday, August 30.

Elisabeth said, although it was not realized by the naked eye, the ground surface in South Jakarta was also caused by the shrinking of groundwater. This can be realized by getting soil water to the surface more difficult.

"So, not only in northern Jakarta, which is clearly visible but also in the southern area of Jakarta, it has started to happen and it is due to groundwater extraction," said Elisabeth.

On that basis, Elisabeth asked people who are still exploiting groundwater for their daily activities to immediately switch to piped water services provided by BUMD PAM Jaya to suppress land subsidence.

"We are trying to control the use of land in the future, all of them will move to the piping network. So, we will also start going forward with socialization together with PAM Jaya," explained Elisabeth.

Continuing, the President Director of Perumda PAM Jaya Arief Nasrudin admitted that efforts to invite the people of Jakarta to switch from land water consumption to PAM Jaya customers were not easy.

Meanwhile, the DKI Provincial Government targets that by 2030, all Jakartans will use piped water services.

In the next six years, DKI will install 7 thousand kilometers of new pipes to support clean water services for residents. So, according to Arief, this requires massive socialization.

"Even given (a connection) it's free, we need effort to carry out socialization. They still feel that the groundwater in Jakarta is still enough to meet their daily needs. Meanwhile, if we look at there have been many conversations about Jakarta in danger of sinking," said Arief.