'I have no problem with water access'

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 03/27/2006 8:56 AM | Jakarta

Water is life, yet many people have no access to clean water. In Jakarta, only about 12 percent of the city's 8.4 million residents have are connected to the city tap water network. In conjunction with World Water Day on Mar. 22, The Jakarta Post spoke to a few residents on how they obtain and conserve water:

Joko, 50, works at a mining company in Jakarta. He lives with his family in Bekasi, West Java:

My family is a client of the Bekasi Water Company (PDAM). But because the water pressure from the PDAM is very weak, many of my neighbors, who subscribe to it also, use groundwater for their daily needs.

The flow of PDAM water only returns to normal at 10 p.m. and at that time my wife usually collects the tap water in several buckets for the next day, such as for cooking and washing. We hardly ever turn on the water faucet at any other time.

This lack of water means I never wash my car at home. It's better for me to pay Rp 10,000 (about US$1) to wash my car at a nearby car wash.

Riduan, 33, works in the confectionary business in Jakarta. He lives with his family in Rawamangun, East Jakarta:

I don't have a problem with water access. The water pressure at my home is strong as usual, even on the second story of my house.

I use tap water for all kinds of things, from cooking to washing my car. However, I often ask the office boy at the office to wash my car, so as not to be billed for using water at home.

I also usually remind my maid to control her use of water. I put up signs saying 'use water wisely' in the bathrooms of my house.

One of my maid's responsibilities is to fill up the lavatory basins each day, and make sure to turn off the water faucets when they're full.

I may drill a well to get groundwater when the administration raises the tap water price.

-- The Jakarta Post

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