New water distribution system inaugurated in East Java

The federal government of Indonesia and the provincial administration of East Java have formally launched eleven new water distribution systems across nine regencies in the province.

A total of $12.82m has been spent on building the facilities, located in Sampang, Gresik, Lamongan, Jember, Madiun, Kediri, Pacitan, Blitar and Tulungagung regencies, which will provide 30,000 households with access to clean water in 2012.

Indonesia Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said the projects in East Java are part of national efforts to improve clean water distribution, in line with the millennium development goal of 68.87% of people gaining access to clean pipe water by 2015.

"The clean water management installation (IPA) on Mandangin uses the seawater reverse osmosis system (SWRO) to process seawater," said Kirmanto.

The new clean water management installation will be able to filter contaminants such as viruses, bacteria, chemicals and heavy metal by using high-pressure water and semi-permeable membranes measuring 0.0001µ.

The system will be able to meet the water needs of 5,760 families.

The federal government is currently planning to accelerate the construction of the Umbulan clean water distribution system in Pasuruan regency, which has a water volume of up to 4,000l per second.

"When completed, the Umbulan project will be able to cover around 40% of the remaining residents who have yet to access clean water in East Java, or around four million people," added Kirmanto.

East Java Governor Soekarwo said only 62.66% of the 37.6 million inhabitants in the province have access to clean water. East Java has set its target at 73% by 2015.

"As of the end of 2011, around a remaining 14 million people had not yet gained clean water access in East Java," said Soekarwo.

The government through the Public Works Ministry’s has allocated IDR 11.8 trillion ($1.2bn) for water projects between 2010 and 2014 which will help provide clean water to 10.7 million people, reports The Jakarta Post.