Students get lesson on water conservation in city rivers

Triwik Kurniasari, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Sun, 03/22/2009 9:27 AM

As World Water Day falls on Sunday, dozens of high school students paid a visit to Muara Angke River in North Jakarta on Saturday, only to find a murky river filled with the flotsam and jetsam of garbage.

The students got into the fishermen’s boats to sail along the river, which is a meeting point of 13 rivers in the city.

Hannita Andriani, 16, was stunned when she spotted a woman taking the river’s water to brush her teeth and take a shower.

“Oh my gosh, how could the woman brush her teeth with such dirty water? It’s not healthy,” Hannita exclaimed.

“Look, she does not seem to worry about using the water. She does not even care about her health,” said the student from high school SMA 36 in Rawamangun, East Jakarta.

She was more surprised when she found out that residents in the area, who mostly worked as fishermen, used the heavily polluted water to clean mussels and fish they had just caught from the river.

“That’s not right. Cleaning the mussels and fish with polluted water will harm people who consume them,” she said.

Hannita was one of 50 students who visited Muara Angke Wildlife Reserve in an event called the Love Water Camp (Kemah Cinta Air) held by PT Coca Cola Indonesia.

The two-day event, from Saturday until Sunday, was held in conjunction with World Water Day.

The program was aimed at raising students’ awareness on the importance of saving and preserving water, as well as keeping the environment clean, said the company’s director of corporate affairs.

World Water Day is an initiative introduced in 1992 by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

As well as a brief tour of Muara Angke, the students also visited Manggarai sluice gate in South Jakarta and Katulampa sluice gate in Bogor, West Java.

The students took river water samples from the three locations, measured their acidity and compared them.

A participant, Kurniati, said the trip taught her many lessons.

“It made me appreciate water and want to conserve it. I learned it is very important to always dispose of trash appropriately so it won’t pollute the environment,” said the 16—year—old student.

“I hope the city administration can do something about the water pollution. They, for example, could provide more cranes to remove the garbage clogging the Manggarai sluice gate,” she said.

Another participant, Ari Febriawan, agreed.

“Water is the most important natural resource for humans. What can we do without clean water?” Ari said.

“I always try to save water in my daily life, like turning off the tap after using it, and I try to keep the environment clean. I hope all people can do the same,” he said.

On Sunday, the students will do environmentally friendly activities at Gunung Geulis Adventure Camp in Bogor, such as planting trees and exploring the lake.

Students enjoy new access to clean water

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 03/20/2009 1:10 PM

Students from five primary schools dealing with clean water shortages in North Jakarta can now enjoy a drink of fresh water thanks to an initiative by students from the Jakarta International School (JIS).

To celebrate World Water Day this coming Sunday, a student club at JIS, Helping Hands, collaborated with USAID's Aman Tirta (Safe Water) Program, and copper and gold mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia to establish portable water facilities for drinking and washing.

North Jakarta elementary schools SDN 01 Ancol, SDN 3 Ancol, SDN 02 Pademangan Barat, SDN 09 Pademangan Timur, SDN 12 Pademangan Barat and a library at Kapuk,West Jakarta received water tanks, taps and drinking fountains from the program.

Founder of Helping Hands Nicholas Oravetz said that after conducting research into water conditions in Jakarta, the student club decided to design a program to increase access to clean water.

"When we first started this year, we took a look at the biggest needs in Jakarta. One of the biggest needs was water," he said.

SD 3 Ancol headmaster Widodo said the quality of ground water in the school area was poor and also not practical.

American Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron Hume launched the facilities Thursday along with North Jakarta spatial planning office head Toni Sukanda.

Following the launch, students rushed to wash their hands under the running water coming from the newly built tanks and drank treated water from taps.

Six-grader Ayu Asriati said she was pleased with the new water facilities.

"Now we can drink water from the taps. There is no need for us to go to the teacher's room *to get drinks*."

Helping Hands raised funds by selling cakes and holding a garage sale, even making Rp 20 million in one day. On March, 1, with Jakarta Free Spirit, a local running group, they held a fun run to raise money for the program. With around 450 partaking in the run, the group raised enough funds to build facilities in 10 schools.

With Aman Tirta, which has been working with schools to implement its safe water program, the group selected the schools to receive the facilities. The schools use Air RahMat, a 1.25% sodium hypochlorite solution, that treats tap water and makes it drinkable. Air RahMat can reduce the risk of diarrhea by 40-80%.

Aman Tirta spokeswoman Wendy Sarasdyani said they were still looking for four other schools to receive facilities.

Access to water fit for consumption is a big issue in North Jakarta, with cramped residential areas and a lack of established water connections.

Aman Tirta head Robert Ainslie said while traditionally boiling water made it drinkable, the time and cost requirements with the fuel required was making the process tiresome and expensive.

He said introducing water treatment to schools through Air RahMat was a positive step toward helping the community gain access to clean water.

Separately, in commemoration of World Water Day, tap water operator PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) built 11 water outlets in West and North Jakarta.