Operations Begin for New Bali Plant To Purify Sewage Into Usable Water

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana, August 11, 2011

Denpasar. Bali officially began operations at a water purification facility on Wednesday that turns treated sewage into clean, usable water.

“The Balinese people are worried about predictions that the island will suffer from a water crisis in 2015,” provincial regional secretary Made Jendra said at the plant’s opening. “This, at least, will be alleviated by the operation of this facility.”

Jendra said the treatment plant, which was a joint project of the central government, Denpasar administration, Badung district government and Japan International Cooperation Agency, would be able to produce 9,000 cubic meters of clean water every day, or more than 100 liters per second.

While that figure was far from the estimated 1,500 liters per second needed to avert a water crisis in 2015, he said clean water production would hopefully grow further with the completion of a sewage network project.

Goro Yasuda, director for overseas projects at Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism, said Bali would face a water crisis by 2015 because “the need for clean water vastly exceeds the capacity of the regional water company.”

Dewa Punia Asa, head of Bali’s public works office, said that so far only 8,647 households in Denpasar and Badung districts were linked to the first phase of the Denpasar Sewage Development Project. Those households are estimated to produce about 22,000 cubic meters of liquid waste a day.

A second phase, expected to be completed in 2014, is targeting 7,200 new connections, mostly hotels and restaurants in the tourist areas of Sanur, Kuta, Legian and Seminyak.

Tjok Bagus Budiana, who heads the province’s sewage management service, said the facility was designed to process as much as 51,000 cubic meters of liquid waste per day. It is built on a 17.5 hectare plot, 2.5 hectares of which is reserved for reservoirs to hold liquid waste.

He said households had to pay a monthly fee of Rp 15,000 to Rp 25,000 ($1.75 to $2.90) to be connected to the network. The fee, he added, would be higher for participating businesses.