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.
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