T

he Jakarta administration is set to issue a regulation on the use of hard detergents to prevent the cleaning product from polluting the city’s rivers, such as what happened to the Sentiong River in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, which recently became covered in foam.

Nicknamed Kali Item (Black River), the Sentiong River is notorious for its foul stench, but its most recent condition prompted city officials to start working on a solution to clean up the waterway.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said the use of hard detergents was responsible for the Sentiong River’s current state.

“This is a problem that exists all over Indonesia, which is the use of detergents with high pollutants that nature cannot process,” he said.

The best solution, he said, was to push for the use of soft detergent. He also urged the central government to issue better regulations on detergents.

The city also plans to regulate zoning for car wash and laundry businesses as the detergents they use could further pollute Jakarta’s rivers.

“The city will decide where there can be laundry and car wash [businesses] and also require them to have water treatment facilities,” Anies said.

Jakarta Water Agency head Teguh Hendrawan said his agency was currently building 10 wastewater treatment facilities to treat wastewater that is dumped into the Sentiong River. They are expected to start operating sometime this year.

The Sentiong River last made headlines in August during the 2018 Asian Games, when the city administration covered it with a black net in an effort to hide its polluted surface from view of the athletes village, which was located right next to it.

According to 2018 data from the Jakarta Environment Agency, the Sentiong River contained up to 2,500 micrograms per liter of pollutants in July, much higher than the minimum standard of 200 mg per liter.

“This means that the river is 12 times more polluted [than it should be]. Detergent is one of the main pollutants,” said Andono Warih, head of the Jakarta Environment Agency’s environmental impact assessment unit.

The white foam covering the river came from high concentrations of hard detergents used by households and businesses in the surrounding area. It was the result of water being let it in from nearby Sunter Lake to prevent flooding. The detergent-heavy runoff then created the foam.

University of Indonesia water expert Firdaus Ali said Jakarta’s rivers contained many other forms of pollutants, not just hard detergents.

He pointed out that the push to switch to soft detergents had been around since 1989.

“However, Indonesia has yet to set a limit for the use of hard detergents,” Firdaus said, adding that this would be a difficult task as the latter was still the main choice in the market because it is cheaper.

A local brand of hard detergent costs around Rp 15,000 (US$ 1.04) per 900 grams, while soft detergents can retail at between Rp 80,000 and Rp 120,000 per kilogram. The low-foam ones are also usually harder to find.

“They’re expensive and are usually used by those who can afford them or are environmentally conscious,” Firdaus said.

The Industry Ministry’s director general of textile, chemical and miscellaneous industries, Achmad Sigit Dwiwahjono, said the ministry planned to issue a new Indonesia National Standard for detergents to make them more biodegradable. The new SNI is awaiting approval from the National Standardization Agency.

Detergent manufacturers and the laundry industry have also expressed their willingness to work with the government to realize a better standardization as well as regulations for detergent use to prevent river pollution.