Households may have to store rainwater

Adianto P. Simamora, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Mon, 02/09/2009 9:10 AM

Homeowners and commercial building owners across the country will be required to build facilities to store rainwater, in a bid to prevent repeated floods and water scarcity.

A draft decree to be issued this week by State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar says all households and building owners must collect rainwater and channel it underground, starting this year.

“By doing so, we can reduce flooding in the country by up to 40 percent. The rainwater will also be a source to recharge groundwater in the event of drought,” said Masnellyarti Hilman, deputy director for nature conservation enhancement and environment degradation control at the ministry.

When signed, the decree will give households and commercial building operators who have not built rainwater catchment facilities one year to comply with the regulation.

The decree, however, stipulates no punitive measures against offenders, but Masnellyarti said a failure to heed the decree was subject to punishment, according to the 1997 environment law.

The draft stipulates three alternatives to collect rainwater, namely rainwater runoff pools, catchment basins and biopore cylinders.

A house built on land measuring up to 21 square meters must have at least three biopore cylinder units with a diameter of 10 centimeters and a maximum depth of 1 meter each.

“This is the simplest and cheapest way to collect rainwater. A biopore cylinder costs less than Rp 200,000 [US$17.39],” she said.

The cylinder can be planted either in the garden or parking area.

Commercial building operators can build rainwater runoff pools or catchment basins based on the rainfall rate, type of soil and aquifer where the building are situated.

A commercial building standing on 50 square meters or more of land, with groundwater levels less than a meter deep, must have a rainwater runoff pools measuring 1.5 cubic meters, which can be placed underground or above ground.

The rainwater would be channeled to the catchment pool through a pipe.

For buildings where the roof covers less than 26 square meters and with groundwater levels above 50 centimeters, catchment basins must be set up at least 10 meters from the septic tank.