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Potable tap water still a pipe dream, for now
Though problems with drinking water supply have been acknowledged for some time, solutions have remained elusive. Now, with the new capital city’s promise to build a potable water system, could it be rolled out elsewhere in the country?
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Construction continues on the Sepaku Semoi Dam in North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, on Feb. 21, 2023. The dam is to supply water to the new capital city. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
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he new capital city’s promise of drinkable tap water could become the basis for potable water infrastructure to be rolled out elsewhere in the country, but experts have expressed doubts about whether this issue will be high up on the government’s agenda.
Last year, the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) authority unveiled plans for a water system, and those plans have found their way into the New Capital City Law.
Bosman Batubara, a water expert and researcher at Utrecht University, has taken a close look at the law and said he found stipulations on infrastructure for wastewater, drinking water and the control of water damage, such as flooding.
However, “I did not find one explicit statement that the water [in the new city] will be drinkable from the tap,” Bosman told The Jakarta Post on June 29, adding that the infrastructure plans in the annex made no mention of this.
Boy Ramadhan, sales manager with water utility company Grundfos Indonesia, told the Post in his Jakarta office in late June that “it’s still too early” to know whether the authority would install a potable water system in the city.
However, he expressed his appreciation for plans to make the city’s water system “sustainable, green and climate resilient” from upstream to downstream, adding that Grundfos would provide the pumps for the Sepaku Semoi Dam water intake.
Endra Atmawidjaja, who advises the Public Works and Housing Ministry on technology, industry and the environment, gave no definite answer when asked about water in the future capital.
