The electricity poles in Jakarta can often provide an interesting read for wandering eyes.
Pieces of paper adorning these poles offer passersby services that they might shun as unnecessary for now, but then again, they could come in handy someday.
"Badut pesta," or "party clown," one piece of paper says, with a phone number printed below the words.
Another one says, "cuci sofa" or "couch cleaning." All you have to do is pick up the phone and ask for these services to be delivered to your door.
Another prima donna phrase in such advertisements reads, "sedot WC" or "toilet suction."
This pleasant-sounding service refers to the task of emptying the septic tank of your house.
The Jakarta Post recently dialed a number printed on one such piece of paper glued to a pole in North Jakarta.
"We help empty septic tanks for residents of East and North Jakarta," said Febi, who answered the phone.
According to her, the company she worked for is just one of numerous players in the "sedot WC" game.
"We are just a small company," she said.
The company mostly receives calls from residents who want the septic tanks in their house emptied, she said.
"We charge Rp 300,000 *US$31* for the use of one vehicle *to empty a tank*," Febi said.
The "vehicle" refers to the truck used to hold and transport the content of septic tanks.
It resembles a water or fuel tanker and is equipped with a hose and pump to suck out the contents of the septic tanks.
"One truck can hold the contents of about two septic tanks. But if the job is to empty septic tanks at an apartment building, for example, we would have to go back and forth 20 times!" Febi said.
The frequency at which a house's septic tank should be emptied depends on the size of the tank and the number of people living in the house, she said.
"Normally, a septic tank needs to be emptied once a year, but if there were 20 people living in the house, the tank could fill up in two weeks," Febi said.
Environmental expert Firdaus Ali said that septic tanks should be emptied once a year.
"The use of septic tanks with an absorption area is no longer appropriate for a city like Jakarta, because it may pollute the groundwater," he said.
World Bank data collected in 2006 showed that 70 percent of the groundwater in Jakarta and other cities in Indonesia was heavily polluted with sewage bacteria from leaking septic tanks
Nevertheless, septic tanks are still commonly used in the city, and some residents don't see the routine of emptying them as a necessity.
"I think the last time I had the septic tank emptied was more than 20 years ago," Melly Anwar, a resident of Tebet, South Jakarta, said.
She finally called the suction service when the toilet clogged up. (dis)
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