Water vendors fill up jerry cans in Madura, East Java. The water comes from a plant that uses reverse osmosis. (JG Photo/Safir Makki) |
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The
national government is planning to build a plant to convert seawater into
drinking water using reverse osmosis technology in Tanjung Pinang, Riau
Islands, an official said on Friday.
The plant
will have a clean water production capacity of 50 liters per second, said Danny
Sutjiono, director for drinking water development at the Public Works Ministry.
“This is
estimated to be able to meet the demand for 40,000 customers at a tariff of
around Rp 8,000 to Rp 9,000 per cubic meter per second,” Danny said.
Danny said
the project was now in the tender phase for construction. He said that he hoped
a contract could be signed in October and that construction could start
immediately thereafter.
“I hope the
project will be operational at the end of 2013,” he added.
Reverse
osmosis is expensive. Danny said the investment needed for the Riau Islands
project was four times what freshwater projects of a similar scale would cost.
The Public
Works Ministry said it would allocate Rp 40 billion ($4.24 million) to build
the plant.
The winner
of the tender must not only construct the physical facility but also operate
the plant and build the necessary distribution pipeline network, Danny said.
“They will
have to handle the construction process and the provision of water. All we want
is for the seawater to be processed into drinking water and channeled to the
houses,” he said.
The
ministry has already built one reverse osmosis plant, on Mandangin island in
Sampang, East Java, off the coast of the larger Madura island.
That plant has
a similar production capacity to that of the proposed Riau Islands facility.
After the Mandangin plant is officially inaugurated by Public Works Minister
Djoko Kirmanto in early August, it will serve an estimated 20,000 people.
That
plant’s water sells for Rp 12,000 per cubic meter per second, Danny said.
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