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Denpasar city residents face tap water shortage
Denpasar residents are complaining of a shortage of tap water for their households, especially during peak morning and evening hours
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enpasar residents are complaining of a shortage of tap water for their households, especially during peak morning and evening hours.
West Denpasar resident Ni Komang Suwarni said recently that water supply to her house often decreased, especially in the morning when her family needed more water for bathing and cooking.
As the flow of water dropped, she said, she could not fill her bathtub.
"We bought a container to allow us store water. It eases the burden, but it only has a limited capacity," she said.
Suwarni complained that state water company PDAM increased the cost of tap water but failed to provide adequate water supply.
The director of PDAM's Denpasar branch, I Putu Gede Mahaputra, admitted his company had to deal with many constraints in improving water service for customers, including lack of supply during peak hours.
PDAM's Denpasar office serves 66,667 customers.
While the existing customers have not received adequate supply of water, many more residents remain on the company's waiting list of customers, including 5,000 customers waiting to get tap water pipes installed in their houses.
The company operates ground wells and two surface springs in Blusung and Waribang to supply water to the city's residents. It also purchases water from water company PT Tirta Buana. However, this is not enough to meet the city's demand of 1,400 liters per second.
Increasing clean water supply to Denpasar is difficult because there are not many springs around the capital, which lies in a downstream area.
Using ground water, especially in the southern area of Denpasar, is not always easy due to sea water.
To overcome the problems, the Denpasar administration and other regencies have been working since 2001 to set up a clean water management system called Sarbagitaku. The project is jointly conducted by the Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar, Tabanan and Klungkung administrations.
Mahaputra said the system would make use of water spillover from downstream sections of the Unda, Penet and Petanu Rivers by installing a water treatment plant.
The result of a feasibility study by the Bali administration showed that the island was facing a water crisis since 2005, with Denpasar the most affected area. In 2005, the city experienced a shortfall of 65 liters per second. This year, the deficit is 462 liters per second.
The study also estimated that other areas, which previously had adequate supply of water, would experience a crisis this year, including Badung (except the tourist areas managed by the Bali Tourism Development Center), Gianyar, Bangli and Karangasem.
Only Tabanan, Klungkung and Buleleng still have a surplus of water, although the supply will continue to decrease.
The study said this year, Bali needed 4,658 liters per second of clean water, but the supply had decreased by 379 liters per second.
Bali Consumer Protection Foundation chairman Putu Armaya said access to clean water was one of the main public services that should be provided by the government.
"Shortage of water for the public should be addressed immediately, especially for customers of tap water companies. But there has been no progress for years," he said.
He also criticized PDAM for increasing tariffs in many areas nationwide.
