water supply and water pollution in Indonesia and China

Name: ZHOU Dan

Student ID: FGH112

Topic: Water pollution

Water supply and water pollution in Indonesia and China

China

and Indonesia are

developing countries

which focus on economic

growth, rapid

economic

growth

has

resulted

in

significant

environmental

problems.

Water

pollution

becomes

much

serious,

many

people

cannot

access

to

safe,

clean

drinking

water,

and

increasing water demand is conflicting with the degradation of water quantity and quality. As

population

keep

increasing,

and

rapid

urbanisation,

over

the

last

20

years

accelerate

the

pollution of freshwater and water shortage is becoming a big problem in each country. What's

the situation of water pollution in each country, and what are main causes of water pollution

in

each

country?

Comparing

the

different

situation

in

two

countries,

discussing

the

main

causes of water pollution, then try to find a suitable way to improve water quality.

Water resource and water pollution in Indonesia

Indonesia

receives

abundant

rainfall

and

has

approximately

6

percent

of

the

world's

freshwater resources, it is about 2,530 km

3

of annual renewable water resources

1

. Ministry of

Settlement

and

Regional

Infrastructure

figures

the

availability

of

water

in

Indonesia

as

the

total amount of river water discharge of about 1,957 million m

3

which is distributed unequally

spatially and temporally. More than 83% is concentrated in Kalimantan, Papua, and Sumatera

islands, and about 17% in Jawa, Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara where densely populated. About

80% available in wet season (5 months) and 20% in dry season (7 months)

2

. Indonesia surface

water potential is provided by over 5,590 rivers big and small. Groundwater potential is very

limited, there are no extensive groundwater basins. Groundwater potential estimates for some

islands are: 95 m

3

/s in Java, 44 m

3

/s in Sulawesi, 21 m

3

/s in East Nusa Tenggara, and 9 m

3

/s in

Maluku

3

.Because

of

high

rainfall

intensities

and

watershed

erosion,

most

rivers

carry

large

quantities of sediment which results in river regime problems.

Although there is rich water resource in Indonesia, the water supply and water demand is

not

balanced.

There

is

a

rising

demand

of

water

because

of

increasing

population,

and

degradation

of

water

quantity

and

quality

make

it

worse.

Deforestation

and

conversion

of

natural rain forest increase the number of run-off water while decrease the infiltrated water.

This

causes

the

frequent

severe

flood

and

drought,

that

mean,

the

amount

of

available

or

utilized water is decreasing. Meanwhile Indonesia's water quality is getting worse. It is said

that most of big rivers in Sumatera cannot fulfill the criteria for Class I and Class II. As table

1 showed that there were no river fulfilled the criteria of Class I and Class II, mainly at the

downstream,

based

on

classified

water

quality

criteria

in

2001/2002.

At

downstream,

river

water quality in general fulfilled the water quality criteria of Class III.

1

2

Source: World Development Indicators database.

Ministry of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure. 2004. Water Availability in Indonesia. An Official

Handbook.

3

Imam Anshori. BASIN WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZA

TION IINDONESIA,2005.

/water/narbo/2005/training-program/.

Name: ZHOU Dan

Student ID: FGH112

Topic: Water pollution

Table 1. Water quality of Siak and Batanghari River

Source: Bapedal in SLHI 2002

Domestic sewage, industrial effluents, agricultural runoff, and mismanaged

solid waste

are polluting surface and groundwater in Indonesia. In addition, improper storage and use of

agricultural

chemicals

(including

fertilizers

and

pesticides)

further

exacerbate

the

problem.

Domestic sewage most are directly discharged into river without treatment. Indonesia has one

of the lowest rates of sewerage and sanitation coverage in Asia, which is causing widespread

contamination of surface and groundwater

4

. In metropolitan cities like Jakarta, Surabaya and

Medan,

the

decrease

in

the

river

water

quality

is

also

affected

by

the

liquid

waste

from

households.

According

to the

2004

census

data

from

BPS

nationally

there

are still 22% of

households that does not poses proper toileting, which in turn can potentially pollute public

waters,

59%

is

on

Java

Island

alone.

Solid

waste

from

residential

and

waste

industrial

has

been regard as another source of water pollution. Collecting the plastic waste in the river for

recycling

has

becoming

a

new

industry

5

.

Industrial

expansion

has

taken

place

without

consideration

of

environment,

it

has

lead

to

serious

water

pollution

in

many

places,

particularly in Java where more than 75 percent of the industry is located

6

. Waste water from

pulp

and

paper,

food

and

beverage,

chemicals

and

textile

factories

seriously

contaminate

surface

water

and

groundwater.

Water

pollution

has

harmful

effects

on

human

health.

Ministry of Health statistics cite incidences of diarrhea and death caused by diarrhea as the

most common water- related health problem, which has remained unchanged during the years

1992-1997 with about 20 - 24 cases of diarrhea per thousand people and 0.25 - 0.30 cases of

death per thousand illnesses. There are repeated local epidemics of gastrointestinal infections

in Indonesia, and the typhoid incidence is one of the highest in Asia.

Water pollution in China

4

5

Water pollution in China is still a big problem. As it is reported

7

:

The seven big rivers (the

Indonesia Urban Water Supply Sector Policy Framework-EASUR, World Bank, 1997.

Professor Inneke F. M Rumengan: The current major environmental pollution in Indonesia.

6

Indonesia Environment Report, World Bank, 1994.

7

Report On the State of the Environment In China,2009.

/standards_r eports/soe/soe2009/201104/t20110411_