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lean water is becoming a serious problem in Indonesia due to prolonged difficulties faced by many local water companies, such as a shortage of raw water sources, high level of water leakage, mismanagement and unprofitable water rates that are far lower than production costs.

Ikhwan of the Indonesia Association of Water Supply Companies (PERPAMSI) said Wednesday that many people were unable to get enough clean water due to poor water delivery services, including high water leakage.

“A large percentage of water is lost in the delivery system. Technical solutions are needed to help local water companies deal with the problems, including how to prevent contamination in water pipelines and to deliver adequate water to remote areas as part of efforts to contain water-borne diseases,” he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a two-day national workshop of LOGO South Indonesia titled “Scaling Up Successes for Improved Water Services Delivery in Indonesia”, which ended Wednesday.

The workshop was held by the Indonesian-Netherlands Association (INA) in cooperation with LOGO South Indonesia Programme of VNG International, an organization of Dutch municipalities.

Ikhwan said many local water utilities could not run their businesses well as they were hampered by a lack of raw water sources. “We might resolve it by carrying out a kind of water regionalization to help solve the water supply industry’s problems. However, this would require sustained attention to policy, especially from the government. So, it won’t be easy,” he said.

Unprofitable water rates are another problem faced by many local water companies, which leads to poor performance. This has created inefficiency within local water utilities, resulting in failure to meet their obligations.

During the two-day meeting, LOGO South Indonesia and its counterparts, including several local water utilities, shared good practices achieved within its five-year program from 2005 to 2010. It also discussed a whole range of other issues, including how to set profitable water rates, reduce water losses, prevent contamination in water pipelines and deliver water to remote areas to contain water-borne diseases spread through poor water quality and sanitation.

Koos Dekkers of the World Waternet Foundation, representing Twinning Partners LOGO South Indonesia from the Netherlands, said there was a connection between drinking water and health.

He said about 90 percent of the households in Meranti regency in Riau Islands had no running water. ”They use rainwater for their daily consumption. The water, however, is placed in an open reservoir outside their houses, directly under the sun. As a result, the water temperature rises from 28 degrees to 38 degrees, making both bacteria and virus grow four times quicker,” he told the Post.

By simply building a roof over the water reservoir, people could keep their water clean.

“We only need a simple solution, instead of a sophisticated technique, to keep the water reservoir cooler so that bacteria will grow much less. However, people might not know about this,” Dekkers said, adding that about 600 people suffered from diarrhea every month due to poor water quality and sanitation.

Indonesian-Netherlands Association (INA) director Elmar Bouma said LOGO South Indonesia had supported the strengthening of local governments’ capacity to improve their water delivery services, such as in North Sumatra and three cities in West Java: Bogor, Banten and Sukabumi. (ebf)