Rainwater as The Everlasting

Water Resource in Indonesia

SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

GITA HAPSARI 2016-22102
January 11th 2016

Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

CONTENTS
CONTENTS ... i
CHAPTER I REALITY
1.1 Rainwater in General 1
1.1.1 Average Annual Rainfall in Indonesia ...... 1
1.2 Barrier ....... 2
1.2.1 Awareness Problem ....... 2
1.2.2 Excessive Development . 3
1.2.3 Frequency, Quantity, and the Quality of Rain 3
CHAPTER II PRESENT
2.1 Maximizing the Use of Rainwater . 5
2.1.1 Trench Dam 5
2.1.2 Existing Rainwater Harvesting System .. 7
2.2 Laws and Regulation . 8
CHAPTER III VISION
3.1 Trends 10
3.1.1 Green Building ... 10
3.1.2 Flood Free Campaign . 11
3.1.3 Groundwater Recharge ... 11
CONCLUSION 13

Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

CHAPTER I
REALITY
1.1 Rainwater in General
Rainwater is arguably the most misunderstood and underutilized fresh water
resource in Indonesia. Virtually all fresh water on our planet originates from the natural
hydrologic cycle of evaporation and precipitation. Unfortunately, once rainwater falls to
the earth and flows into streams and percolates into aquifers it often becomes contaminated
and requires costly treatment before it can be piped to communities and homes. Rainwater
harvesting is simply capturing this clean, fresh water before it hits the ground and storing
it in safe clean tanks for later use. Its simple, its low cost over the lifespan of the storage
tanks and its very sustainable.
Indonesias capital city, Jakartas wet season rainfall peak is January with an
average of 30mm. Some people will see this as a threat, especially with the unintegrated
system of sewerage and drainage in Jakarta. Since, water is vital for human life and living
at all times, its our responsibilities to learn how to conserve water, especially from its
everlasting source, rain, and acknowledge them to people in Indonesia.

1.1.1 Average Annual Rainfall in Indonesia

Rainfall in Indonesia is affected by Western Monsoon and Eastern Monsoon
wind. West Monsoon wind blows over the Pacific Ocean, making it moist, and
eventually cause rainy season in Indonesia. This took part between October to April.
On the other hand, East Monsoon wind blows from the East in July. The wind blows
pass a lot of land and sea, making it dry, which leads to low amount of rain between
April to October.
West coast of each island in Indonesia obtain more amount of rain than the
east coast. Therefore rainfall in western Indonesia is greater than the eastern part of
Indonesia, for example, a chain of islands of Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, and
East Nusa Tenggara are connected by narrow straits, making them have the highest
amount of precipitation.
Rainfall also increase with altitude. The highest rainfall generally located at
an altitude between 600-900mm above sea level.
The annual average rainfall in Indonesia differs each year, and its getting
lower as of the effect from El Nio, the warm phase of ocean water that develops
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Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

in the central and east central equatorial Pacific (between approximately
the International Date Line and 120W), including off the Pacific coast of South
America. Although, the annual average rainfall is still quite high with an average
of 2000-3000mm each year. The highest average annual rainfall in Indonesia is in
Baturaden, Central Java, where it has approximately 7,069mm/year, and the area
that has the least amount of rainfall or the driest area in Indonesia is Palu, Central
Sulawesi with about 547mm/year.

1.2 Barrier
Indonesia has an abundant amount of water in rainy season, yet scarcity of water in
dry season. Ironically the existing excess of water in rainy season cant be used optimally
and often cause flood. Water scarcity problem in dry season can be found mainly in Java
and Bali.

1.2.1 Awareness Problem

The thickest barrier that we have to face is none other than the negative
perception of people towards rainwater. Their lack of knowledge restrain them from
knowing that we have the most valuable resource right above our head. I've realized
that there are so many misconceptions in the world, rainwater is no exception. They
often think of wastewater, pollutants, and even balding! Such concerns stem from
a common misunderstanding and they seem to accept them as scientific fact. But
they don't know the truth that rainwater is actually extremely clean and safe. So, to
answer your question about whether rain can be consume as drinking water or not,
yes. It's proved that soda and orange juice that we consumed have similar or even
lower pH than rain water. TDS for Korea's tap water is 50-250 ppm when rainwater
is only 10-20ppm, even after 20 minutes of another pouring rain, the pollutants are
washed away so rainwater is just similar like distilled water. With basic
management like keeping the catchment area clean and good filtering system, we
shouldn't have problems with clean water shortage anymore.
Jakarta is sinking at a rate of between 7.5 and 14 centimeters per year due
to deep groundwater extraction in combination with pressure from high-rise
buildings in Jakarta, thus jeopardizing the wellbeing of future generations, or, at
least necessitating the migration of more than four million people as the northern
part of the city will be gradually submerged by the sea if no immediate action is
taken.

Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

Although the intensity, frequency, and droughts in large parts of Jakarta and
Indonesia continue to increase, sadly the participation and responsibility of the
community to anticipate floods and drought is still far from expectation.
Apathy, despair, and priori are concrete illustration of the negative response
from society to the efforts and results of flood prevention and drought undertaken
by the government these past decades.
Moreover, the government is still using the classic approach, such partial
and ceremonial in the prevention of floods and droughts, benefitted only a handful
of people. Flood and drought prevention undertaken by the government is like a
time bomb where it will only waste energy and money, without any adequate results.

1.2.2 Excessive Development

The problem of water crisis in Indonesia has deteriorated even to the stage
of distress. This occurs due to the use and cultivation of land without considering
any principles of water conservation. The development of housing, industrial
complex, and infrastructure are not based on the perspective of water conservation
principles. Correspondingly to excessive development in the citys water catchment
areas, which lead to very little chance for rainwater to get into the ground to
recharge the groundwater, instead form a surface flow (runoff). Ironically, local
authorities had been overzealous in issuing building permits for Jakartas
designated water catchment zones. Many ignore the city spatial plan, especially the
authorities that hand out permits, even though they know they clearly violate
environmental impact analysis. Ultimately, large building in drainage areas in the
capital had worsened the floods.

1.2.3 Frequency, Quantity, and the Quality of Rain

The obstacles encountered in rainwater harvesting among others are the
frequency and quantity of fluctuating rain. To make it worse, large uncertainties
remain, particularly regarding the response of El Nino to climate change in
Indonesia.
In addition, the water quality is still in deep debate among experts in
Indonesia. Climate and the unintegrated system of waste treatment which have huge
impact on air quality and catchment areas are mostly the main arguments. In
conjunction with the issues related to bacteriological and insect vector
contamination in rainwater, which actually can be solve by simply maintaining the
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Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

sanitary of the catchment area, a decent cover or lid above the rainwater barrel or
storage tank and an effective filtering system.

Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

CHAPTER II
PRESENT
2.1 Maximizing the Use of Rainwater
The amount of water in Indonesia fluctuates by season and is distributed differently
among the regions. In general, most Indonesian regions have an annual rainfall of about
2000 - 3500mm (60 percent). Some areas (3 percent) have annual rainfall over 5000 mm
and others having rainfall of less than 1000 mm annually. This data indicates that Indonesia
with its humid tropical climate gets uncountable natural abundance in the form of high
rainfall, though in certain areas occasional water shortages or drought takes place.
Indonesia has a total territory of 1.9 million km2 and has an average annual rainfall
of 2700mm. Of this, only an average of 278 mm (10 percent) infiltrates and percolates as
groundwater. The remaining (larger) portion flows as runoff or surface water (1832 mm).
If this water - groundwater and surface water - can be managed properly, it would be readily
available with a total amount of about 2100 mm annually or equal to the discharge of
irrigation water of about 127,775 m3/sec.
Total water storage capacity in terms of area in Indonesia is about 13.75 million ha
- consisting of lake storage (1.777 million ha or 13 percent), dam and reservoir storage (50
000 ha or 0.4 percent), rivers (2.895 million ha or 21 percent) and inland swamp/polder
with 9 million ha or 65 percent of total area (Ato Suprapto, 2015, Land and Water
Resources Development in Indonesia, General Directorate of Agricultural Infrastructure,
Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia).

2.1.1 Trench Dam

With its vast and abundant fertile soils, Indonesia is a major global key
producer of a wide variety of agricultural tropical products, and although
agriculture's share of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) has declined
markedly during the last five decades, it still provides income for the majority of
Indonesian households today. In 2012 this sector employed around 49 million
Indonesian individuals, which represents 41 percent of the total Indonesian labor
force (Indonesia Investments, Structure of Culture, Economy, and Agriculture
2015).
Trench dam application has been applied in many agriculture areas in
Indonesia. It utilize an existing drainage path, so it doesnt diminish much of
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Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

agricultural space. The trench dam also allowing water to percolate so as to increase
the base flow that can be utilized by plants and filling the downstream wells.
This technology is a way to collect / stem the flow of water in a trench
(drainage network) in order to accommodate the runoff volume. Thus the water can
be used to irrigate the surrounding agriculture land. It can also reduce the rate of
runoff (flood free), erosion, and sedimentation (Soil and Agro-climate, 2002).
The technology requires a cost of approximately Rp.30-50 million per unit,
30 people for construction which usually takes 3 months of work. The construction
can be carried out by farmers.
Experience has shown that the application development of trench dams in
Yogyakarta, Central Java (Semarang), West Java (Puncak, Bogor) has increased
land productivity, reduce peak discharge, and prolong the response time of the
watershed so as to reduce the risk of flood. Along the sub watershed line of Bunder,
Gunungkidul district, Yogyakarta, the application of trench dams have been able to
change the type of corps, from upland rice to rice paddy. It also extend the growing
season until 4 months. Furthermore, terraced trench dam development in
Yogyakarta also influenced several parameters on hydrology, agronomy, social,
and economic. As follows, the development of terraced trench dams in Central Java
has been able to reduce the peak discharge until 45-90% and extend the response
of the watershed until 12-60 minutes (Hendri Sosiawan, 2009, Optimization the Use
of Rainwater Harvesting System and Surface Flow for the Improvement of Rice
Production in Dry Land).

Pic 1. Trench Dam in Central Java

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Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

The results of the application in Jogjogan village, Cisarua district, Bogor

regency, West Java showed that trench dams application that are built with a
capacity of 100m3 can increase the planting area of 4ha. On top of that, it also meet
the water needs for crops throughout the dry season, therefore the agriculture land
can be planted throughout the year, regarding the increase of planting area of 4.11
ha in dry season. The trench dam can also reduce the rate of runoff along the line
of Cipucung river watershed by 9%. Moreover the results showed that a 250m3
trench dam in dry season can accommodate and reduce runoff by 45% of the total
discharge, while in the rainy season, it can reduce peak discharge of the river until
17% (Hendri Sosiawan, 2009, Agro-climate and Hydrology Center).

2.1.2

Existing Rainwater Harvesting System

City dwellers in Indonesia are employing rainwater harvesting to combat
the flooding and drought made worse by climate change. Rainwater harvesting as
an alternative resource of clean water can help urban Indonesians to have a better
management in water scarcity. Rainwater harvesting can improve city dwellers
access to clean water while supporting aquifer recharge.
Pandeglang district, Banten Province, west coast of Java, is one of the area
in Indonesia that has an adequate amount of annual rainfall between 2000-4000mm
per year with an average of rainfall of 3814mm and has 177 rainy days on average
per year, the average air pressure is 1010 millibars. Ironically, flood and drought
are the seasonal terror in Pandeglang. Therefore, the management of water
resources by utilizing rainwater is more than appropriate to be applied in this district.
In matter of the issue, the Environmental Technology Center in
collaboration with the Government of Pandeglang as well as other related
institutions are vigorously conducting rainwater resource utilization efficiency
researches. Additionally, the development of water treatment technology
information systems and data refineries water resources through the creation of
database and modelling system are also applied for the recovery of shallow
groundwater level (Assessment and application of Technology, 2011, News of
Natural Resources and Disaster).
Since the year 2011 to present, in Klaten, Central Java, exclusively
Kemalang, Karangnongko, and Jatinom districts, the community of people is
remarkably healthy. Pastor Kirjito and Agus Ben, an artist from Klaten, also an
environment activist, conducted a research from those three districts and found out
that the people who live in those three areas have low case of disease especially
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Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

stroke. The community look perfectly fit and healthy. Later they realized that these
people use rainwater as their water source.
According to recent study, rainwater TDS/Total Dissolved Solid
(dissolved mineral content) level in Indonesia is below 20 mg/l. In fact, many
bottled waters TDS is above mg/l. Indonesia National Standard (SNI) stated that
the maximum TDS for drinking water is 500 mg/l, while the WHO maximum
standard is 50 mg/l. Rainwater can even reach a zero ppm aka pure water or H2O,
if the rain continue to fall in heavy and long condition, followed by lightning. While
the acidity is above 7. The standard level of acidity for drinking water is 6.5 to 8.5
on the pH meter.
INDEPENDENT ENTERPRISE - PT Community Restoration
Solutions (CoRe Solutions) is an independent consulting, project management
enterprise, that has a vision of providing clean water and community empowerment.
They implemented contractor providing seasoned, field-level expertise in survey,
design, planning and management of clean water projects throughout the islands in
Indonesia. Their projects can be seen in Papua, Sumbawa, Sulawesi, Bali, Java,
Kalimantan, and Sumatra. They use ferro-cement rainwater tanks, drinking water
filter using diatomaceous earth, impregnated with silver ions, and carbonated coreand hydram pumps, a technology using gravity and inertia to lift water to higher
elevations without any electricity.

2.2 Laws and Regulation

The Indonesias 1945 Constitution article 33 states that The land, the waters and
the natural resources within shall be under the powers of the State and shall be used to the
greatest benefit of the people. The statement under the control does not mean all
activities should only be implemented by the government, it is allowing to a certain extent
on natural resources to be utilized by private, community or cooperative however it should
be under the control of the Government. This includes land and water having economic
value and social functions. Utilization should be based on sustainable manner and for the
maximum prosperity of Indonesian people. Law No. 7 Year 2004 on Water Resources
stipulates that water resources shall be managed based on the principle of conservation,
balance, public benefit, integrity and harmony, justice, independence, as well transparency
and accountability. Based on this main governing law in water resources, river area shall
mean the integrated water resources management area in one or more river flow areas
and/or small islands having an acreage that is less or the same as 2.000 km2. The stipulation
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Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

of the river area comprise the river area in one regency/municipality, 4 Indonesia trans
regency/municipality river area, trans provincial river area, trans national river areas and
nationally strategic river area (Water Dialogues, Indonesia).
Few lists of regulations in Indonesia regarding the utilization and management of
water:
1. The management of rainwater on buildings and its land is regulated under
Regulation of the Minister of Public Works No. 11/PRT/M/2014 (Permen PU
No. 11/2014).
2. Technical Guidelines for the Use of Special Allocation Funds for Infrastructure,
regulated under Regulation of the Minister of Public Works No.
39/PRT/M/2006 (Technical guidelines for drinking water infrastructure,
appendix 3.a).
3. Implementation of the Development of Water Supply System, regulated under
Regulation of the Minister of Public Works No. 18/PRT/M/2007.
4. Government Regulation Number 42 of 2008 on Water Resource Management.
5. Government Regulation Number 16 of 2005 on the Development of Water
Supply System.
6. Minister of Environment Regulation Number 12 of 2009 on The Use of
Rainwater, covers:
1. Rainwater Collection Tank
a. Above ground
b. Underground
2. Infiltration Wells
a. Shallow
b. Deep
3. Biopore Infiltration Holes
7. Minister of Health Regulation Number 492 of 2010 on Drinking Water Quality
Requirements.

Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

CHAPTER III
VISION
3.1 Trends
Aimed to increase the development of industrial growth, industrial estates are
seen to be on the rise. However, concerns on environmental and social impacts have
emerged for new land openings. Land clearing is feared to change the natural structure
of the ecosystem, while environmental impacts increases the concern during which an
industrial area begins its operations such as downgrading the quality of air, water and
other pollutant material from the waste of manufacturing processes.

3.1.1

Green Building
Issues resulting from environmental damage have indirectly encouraged
activists to urge industrial players to implement the principles of sustainable
business giving way in becoming a green industrial estate. The worlds
attention to global warming encourages various parties to undertake the
sustainability movement. Indonesian development of healthy, green and
sustainable city is inspired the formation of Green Product Council Indonesia
with the vision of raising the sustainability awareness, especially industrialist,
the large amount of public community in order to undertake the development of
eco-friendly environment technologies as well as take a part to parcipate in
creating greener Indonesia and with the mission of improving the quality of the
environmental aspects of sustainable products.
The Green Building Council Indonesia (GBCI) has announced that 140
registered buildings are queuing up to receive a green building certification and
up until July 2015, only 14 buildings have received green certifications or
greenship. He added that the process to get certified for a building will usually
take 6-12 months, depending on the buildings design. Building management
and property developers should pay attention to environmental issues as
buildings account for 23% of greenhouse gas emissions.
One building that has been given the green label (platinum) is the main
building of the Kementerian Pekerjaan Umum & Perumahan Rakyat (Ministry
of Public Works and Public Housing). This building can save electricity up to
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Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

42.94% and save 61% of water in the dry season and 81% in the rainy season
(Asia Green Buildings, 2015).

3.1.2

Flood Free Campaign

The Jakarta Water Management Agency said the city needs Rp.118
trillion ($9.2 billion) to make Jakarta flood-free. For comparison, that amount of
money is greater than the 2015 state budgets combined allocation for the
ministries of health, agriculture, maritime affairs and fisheries, forestry, energy
and mineral resources, and public housing. It is also 18 percent larger than the
nations defense spending this year. The city is also mulling improvements to its
drainage system, which currently only cope with up to 50 millimeters of rain.
With that being said, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki
Hadimuljono has said that Jakarta will be flood free by 2018, particularly if flood
mitigation projects along the Ciliwung River finish on schedule.
The projects include the construction of the Ciliwung tunnel connecting
West Flood Canal (BKB) and East Flood Canal (BKT) that will split water
flowing from the Ciliwung River as well as the expansion of the capacity of the
Ciliwung River, the longest river in the capital. The flood mitigation projects
being implemented along the Ciliwung River and Ciliwung Tunnel are suspected
to reduce the volume of flow around Kampung Pulo (an area which used to be a
housing colony alongside Ciliwung River watershed) to 440 cubic meters from
570 cubic meters per second during peak rainy season.
The capacity of the flood gates will be 504 cubic meters per second, so
with 470 cubic meters per second, water flow will be smooth. The flood
mitigation project that started in 2013, is expected to be completed within two
years.

3.1.3

Groundwater Recharge
The quality of groundwater in Jakarta is in critical condition. Most of the
groundwater, either in free or confined aquifers, doesnt meet the drinking water
quality standards requirement from the government. Salt, manganese, and iron
compound excess are spreading from the Northern part of Jakarta to the Southern
region.
Survey results from Jakartas groundwater basin by Groundwater
Conservation Center of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in 2015
showed, from 85 monitored wells (free aquifer layer), there are only 16 sites that
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Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

meet the quality standards. Moreover, from a total of 69 confined aquifers, only
12 locations meet the quality standards.
The dependency of industry on groundwater is one of the constraints
faced by groundwater management. This dependency is associated with the lack
of infrastructure provided by the government. High priority to manage water as
a scarce resource for human needs is desperately needed, particularly in
developing countries.
To improve groundwater quality, a sustainable groundwater management
strategy should be employed. A strategy in which covers long term groundwater
resources conservation, groundwater quality protection; change the groundwater
resources management paradigm to groundwater as a nonrenewable resource.
Thus, rainwater is supposedly to be the prospect of the future.

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Rainwater as The Everlasting Water Resource in Indonesia

CONCLUSION
The problem in which we need to address right now regarding the issue of water scarcity
in Indonesia is the rainfall intensity and duration frequency of rain. Rain in Indonesia, the capital
city, only lasts for approximately 10-15 minutes. Therefore the rain is not as clean as stormy rains,
because to reach a distilled water or H2O, the rain need to continue to fall in heavy and in long
condition.
The uncertain frequency of rain makes the humidity high, hence making the atmosphere
damp and distressing. The El Nio is a climate cycle in the Pacific Ocean with a global impact on
weather patterns is still the main argument on this worrisome phenomena. The cycle begins when
warm water in the western tropical Pacific Ocean shifts eastward along the equator toward the
coast of South America. Normally, this warm water pools near Indonesia and the Philippines.
During an El Nio, the Pacific's warmest surface waters sit offshore of northwestern South
America. The El Nio forecast for 2015 is expected to be one of the strongest on record (Live
Science, 2015).
Despite all the issues regarding climate change, rainfall is still believe to be the ultimate
solution to water scarcity. Implementing the use of rainwater harvesting will provide a way to
capture unused precipitation in both rural and urban areas. The advantage of this system is that it
is inexpensive and can be operated at any scale (personal or municipal). For long term
improvements in urban regions, additional changes are needed for centralized distribution systems
such as material replacements, better hydraulic pressure, and better maintenance through
regulation.

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