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High consumers to require permit for groundwater use
“We encourage the rich with swimming pools to seek approval, because they extract water from the same source as the broader community, used for everyday activities,” a government official said.
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A resident collects water from the West Jakarta Flood Control canal for daily consumption on Jan. 9, 2023. (Antara/Muhammad Adimaja)
T
he government plans to make it mandatory for households consuming more than 100 cubic meters (cbm) of groundwater or river water per month to obtain permission from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.
A yet-to-be-issued regulation is to come into effect in 2027, in line with Ministerial Decree 291/2023 outlining standards for groundwater usage approval to restore Jakarta’s groundwater levels and reduce land subsidence.
The acting head of the ministry’s geological agency, Muhammad Wafid, said on Tuesday that the policy would specifically target households with high water consumption, such as those with swimming pools, which often necessitated drawing more than 100 cbm of water.
“We encourage the rich with swimming pools to seek approval, because they extract water from the same sources as the broader community, used for everyday activities,” Wafid said, as quoted by Kompas.com.
Read also: Jakarta sinking at slower rate, ministry official says
One hundred cbm equated to filling a 500-liter household water tank 200 times, illustrated Wafid, or consuming more than 5,000 of the 19 l bottles widely used in water dispensers across the country.
This regulation would require individuals, groups or legal entities that extract at least 100 cbm of ground or river water per month to apply for a permit.
