The communities we work with lack adequate clean water infrastructure; shallow wells yield poor quality water and formal municipal water supply companies do not provide services there. The community members spend a large portion of their income to buy freshwater from vendors and to then pay to treat the water to drink (typically fuel cost for boiling). Our Clean Water Program works to improve existing conditions, both related to the quantity and quality aspects of water, using practical and replicable methods.

“As a cadre (trainer) for clean water working group, every week I actively visit my neighbor to have monitoring on the use of sand water filtration. During that visit, I often meet other people who doesn’t yet know about this filter, so this is my opportunity to spread the benefit of this sand water filtration system. The cost for getting sand filter is relatively cheap and the maintenance is also easy, specially because of the assistance of the Yayasan Tirta Lestari team. Hopefully there will be more people interested in using this filter and get benefit from it. I prove it myself that I can reduce my expense to by clean water up to 50%.” —Dasikem, Lenteng Agung community

CLEAN WATER ACCESS

The majority of households Yayasan Tirta Lestari works with purchase two 20L jerry-cans of water daily for general purpose, at a cost of IDR 1,000 (approximately US$0.10) per refill. To help alleviate some of that burden, our team facilitates community members in rehabilitating shallow wells and building sand filters, as well as constructing rainwater collection systems. In total we renovated and built 9 shallow wells, 26 sand filters, and 28 rainwater collection systems between 2006 and 2012.

Rainwater Collection
The shortage of storage space and capital for storage tanks limits the proliferation of rainwater collection in Jakarta slum communities, not rainfall. Community members recognize that collecting rainwater provides a convenient additional source of freshwater, and so are eager to contribute towards building rainwater storage systems wherever possible. A shining example is a rainwater collection system we built together with Teluk Gong Community in 2011 located near the Community Center. The Community Leader is particularly proud of this system that is used by approximately 50 people everyday for hand and feet washing, as it also serves as a model for others to replicate.

Water Filtration
Some well water is so dirty that clothes being washed change color. Our team works with community members to teach them how to build and subsidizes material costs for sand filters that help improve existing water sources. One of the beneficiaries of the sand filters built with Pulo Kandang in 2009, took the initiative herself to extend the benefits of this cleaner sand-filtered water to an additional 10 households.

Well Improvement
Many of the shallow wells in the communities we work with in North Jakarta are brackish due to saltwater intrusion or have gone dry due to large developments on nearby land. The shallow wells that provide a source of water are commonly too dirty to use for much other than washing. Nonetheless, improving existing wells is important to provide safety and drainage. Our team organized community members and leaders to improve two existing wells in Tanjung Priok in 2012 for example, which together are used by more than 200 people.

HOUSEHOLD DRINKING WATER TREATMENTS

Boiling is the primary household drinking water treatment used by the community members we work with, and also the most expensive. Many also buy isi ulang (non-branded refill water) which is a little bit cheaper though comes without quality guarantee. Cheaper still, are less familiar methods such as chlorination, SoDis, and ceramic filtration. Each method, including boiling, are viable methods, so we teach the advantages and disadvantages to all methods and leave the user to decided what works best for them. Some households use different methods for different circumstances i.e. short on preparation time, rainy weather that day, boiling water for tea anyway. This is a report published by USAID on action research done on this approach in collaboration with our team in 2007.

SoDis
Solar Water Disinfection (SoDis) refers to the process of disinfecting water in plastic bottles using UV from the sun. Some are motivated by the cost savings, some by the image of drinking bottled water, some just like the “natural” treatment method. Still, not an extensive uptake to date, mostly due to the bottle-cleaning preparation time. Nonetheless, there are a few households in Bintaro Baru and Tanjung Priok whom have avidly been using SoDis since 2010, though they turn to different methods during the rainy season.

Ceramic Filtration
Ceramic filtration is a method by which water passes through a ceramic filter element impregnated with colloidal silver, into a storage receptacle with a spigot. The relatively high capital expense (approximately IDR 250,000 or US$25) is the main hindrance, though a preferred method due to ease and taste. Through augmenting mechanisms such as 50% coupons for Safe Water Handling & Storage Training participants and prize reward incentives, YTL has subsidized, awarded and sold a total of 135 ceramic filters as of the end of 2012.

Chlorination
The household (point-of-use) drinking water chlorination products we socialize are AquaTabs, Air RahMat, and PuR. Though Indonesians are not accustomed to the residual chlorine taste, the quick preparation time compared to boiling is advantageous. The additional buffer to recontamination and low cost are important too though less influential factors. In Utan Kayu Selatan, some business-minded women (who sell about 50 ice drinks a day) are now using AquaTabs to treat the water they use for making ice.

Boiling
Boiling water is widely practiced in Indonesia, however, most people are unsure how long they are suppose to boil for nor are they clear on proper drinking water storage. Our team conducts trainings on different household water disinfection options, including boiling, and safe water handling and storage practices. We worked with the local health Cadres (Posyandu group) in 2012 in Teluk Gong and Utan Kayu Selatan, improving the knowledge of 120 mothers regarding boiling and safe water handling and storage practices, with backing from results of some of the 149 water quality tests conducted that year.