Amir Tejo, Surabaya – Residents of East Java's capital are preparing for another water crisis, as October – the transition month from the dry to rainy season – is considered the worst month for pollution in the Surabaya River.
The waterway, a branch of the Brantas River, is the source for 71 percent of the water processed by the regional water company (PDAM) in the city.
"Based on experiences from past years, people are afraid that in October the companies near the Surabaya's riverbanks will pump their waste, stored for months, out into the river," said Soenarno, a PDAM spokesman.
This will affect water supply to the PDAM's 398,000 customers. Due to the high amount of pollutants, the processing time will take much longer, which will ultimately affect end users.
The worst-case scenario would be a repeat of the situation last year, when the PDAM told its customers that the water flowing from their faucets was not fit for consumption. "We are only an operator, thus we tell our customers honestly if our product is not fit for consumption," Soenarno said.
Pollution in the Surabaya River is already very bad. Dissolved oxygen is above 20 parts per million, when ideally it should not exceed 10 ppm, while biochemical oxygen demand is above 10 ppm, when it should not exceed 2 ppm.
Prigi Arisandi, director of Ecological Observation and Wetland Conservation (Ecoton), said that his agency's research showed the river was able to self-purify 30 tons of liquid and solid pollutants every day. The problem is, it faces 75 tons of pollutants daily.
Industrialization along the river, Prigi said, contributed to the poor water quality. Since the 1980s, about 60 factories have been built in the area. Most waste ends up in the Tengah River, which in turn flows into the Surabaya River.
To make the water fit for consumption, PDAM chemically treats it, but with fluctuating water quality, it will be hard for the company to keep up the supply of potable water.
"Surabaya's people should not just see the high water level of the river and ask why there is a water crisis – look at the water quality. A lot of bad quality water is meaningless," Prigi said.
Jasa Tirta Surabaya, which manages the Surabaya River and sells the water to PDAM, says that due to uncontrollable factors, it cannot guarantee that water quality this year would be better than in previous years.
"We already watch the industries through water patrols, surprise inspections and water quality monitoring. However, as the rainy season nears, errant industries usually dump their waste in with the high water flows from the first rains," Jasa Tirta's chief, Widyo Parwanto, said.