Finding the Most Appropriate Method of Water Conservation in Indonesia: A Literature Review Study

ITB J. .. Vol. XX , No. X, 20XX, XX-XX 1

Received ________, Revised _________, Accepted for publication __________

Finding the Most Appropriate Method of Water

Conservation in Indonesia: A Literature Review Study

Alia Widyarini H.1 & R. Aswin Rahadi

2

1School of Planning & Policy Development, Bandung Institute of Technology

2School of Business and Management, Bandung Institute of Technology

Abstract. In Indonesia, local dwellers used to obtain their clean water by

conducting land drilling and pump the clean water which they could find. If this

action were allowed to be done by most of Indonesian people, especially people

in Bandung, then the availability of clean water will reduced dramatically, if not

exhausted. Water conservation become very important and currently government

has realized this by conducting several efforts and action to convince society on

the danger of this action.

This research will try to discuss about water conservation, how far the action

does has been implemented in Indonesia, and what are the appropriate proven

water conservation action abroad which are suitable to be implemented here in

Indonesia. The second objective of this research is to analyze which methods that

are the most suitable and affordable to be implemented in Indonesian household.

The initial findings of this research suggest that the implementation of water

conservation in Indonesia should start first from household scale level. The most

appropriate water conservation methods to be implemented in Indonesia are the

simple water harvesting methods. Additional actions that could support the water

conservation action include: passive water collection system with site grading;

using Puslitbangkim product biority for reuse water; using fixture that can save

the water, start from fixtures that are affordable; construction of sumur resapan

and lubang resapan biopori in the yard; and by changing the lifestyle and

behavior of the society.

Keywords: Indonesia, residential, stormwater, water conservation, water harvesting,

1 Introduction

Water is an important aspect in human life. People cannot live with water. But

without realizing, people unwisely use water for their daily lives, such as for

drinking, cooking, washing, and plant irrigation. People feel that water will

always be there for them, but in reality water crisis happened in many countries

nowadays. Water.org, a nonprofit organization from Kansas, USA, predicted

that nowadays one from eight people in the world cannot get clean water. Last

year, World Water Development Report 2010 reported that around 4000

children have died everyday because of dirty water or bad condition in the

2 Alia Widyarini H. & R. Aswin Rahadi

world. If this problem is not solved, in 2050 quarter of world population will

live in the county that experiencing crisis on fresh water. [1]

1.1 Research Background

In Indonesia, local dwellers used to obtain their clean water by conducting land

drilling and by pumping the clean water from the ground. Within a few meters

depth one can find clean water for daily use. This is a trusted method to get

clean water on ones own land. [2]

Furthermore, the rapid development in Bandung making changes in its land use,

many buildings are built and the city becomes more crowded. Nowadays the

development begins to spread to the Northern part of Bandung, which is the

area for rainwater catchment. So, when the rain is pouring, many roads in

Bandung will be flooded, even in some areas that have not experienced flooding

before.

Figure 1 Flood in few areas of Bandung (Pikiran Rakyat, 2008)

1.2 Problem Statement

As mentioned in the previous section, flood usually happened in several areas in

Bandung. This is caused due to the decreasing area which absorbs rain waters

that at the end interrupted the hydrological cycle. Ground water supply is

decreasing gradually which caused landslides. Flood and surface runoff often

occurred, and it presenting negative impact to the society.

Clean water which is came from the ground water usually being used for

drinking, cooking, laundering, and for bathing. The water also being used for

other needs such as flushing, watering the plants, car washing, mopping, and

others, although for these kind of activities, they are not required to use the

ground water with massive volume intake.

Due to that, it is regretted if the water from rain which can be considered as

abundant is left to waste, while on the other part of the world, water is

Finding the Most Appropriate Method of Water Conservation in

Indonesia: A Literature Review Study 3

considered as a scarce and expensive commodity. With this in mind, water

conservation becomes very important, and fortunately our government has come

to realize it. The activity to socialize water conservation is already being

enforced to the society so they also realized the importance of water, how to

treat and reuse water, and to conduct rain water gathering.

1.3 Purpose of Research

This paper will try to discuss about water conservation, how far water

conservation has being conducted in Indonesia, and how to implement the

modern water conservation techniques which already being conducted abroad in

Indonesia. The second objective of this paper is to determine the most

appropriate and best water conservation technique to be implemented in

Indonesia, viewed from ease and cost aspects.

1.4 Limitation

This paper will only discuss water conservation in household scale, especially

water conservation technique which relates with active, passive, and other

alternatives.

1.5 Signification and Contribution

This paper is expected to give contribution on the level of understanding about

methods available in water conservation techniques, as one of the major aspect

in sustainability. Other than that, this paper aims to motivate the society to do

water conservation, because basically this can be done in a simple and cheap

way. In general, it is important for the society to realize that clean water is

longer considered as renewable resource, and each day the deposits are depleted

slowly. If no action is being done to prevent this, then in the near future we will

face clean water crisis.

2 Water Conservation Method

According to Kim and Rigdon [2], there are two methods in water conservation:

water reuse and reduce consumption. Methods for water conservation may

reduce input, output, or both. This is because, conventionally, the water that is

supplied to a building and the water that leaves the building as sewage are all

treated by municipal water treatment plants. Therefore, a reduction in use also

produces a reduction in waste. Principally, the method of water conservation is

an adoption of 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle) as part of sustainability.


2.1 Reuse Water

Water consumed in buildings can be classified as two types: graywater and

sewage. Graywater is produced by activities such as hand washing. While it is

not meeting the drinking-water quality, it does not need to be treated as nearly

as intensively as sewage. In fact, it can be recycled within a building, perhaps to

irrigate ornamental plants or flush toilets. Well-planned plumbing systems

facilitate such reuse. [3]

2.2 Rainwater Harvesting

In most parts of the world, rainwater falling on buildings has not been

considered a useful resource. Buildings are typically designed to keep the rain

from the occupants, and the idea of utilizing rain water falling on building

surfaces has not been widely explored. Building envelopes, particularly roofs,

can become rainwater collecting devices, in combination with cisterns to hold

collected water. [3]

According to Kinkade-Levario [4], rainwater harvesting is the collection of rain

without an artificial inducement. The aim of rainwater harvesting is to

concentrate runoff and collect it in a basin or cistern to be stored for future use.

Rainwater captured from roof catchments is the easiest and most common

method used to harvest rainwater. It is, however, not the only harvesting

method.

There are six basic components in water harvesting, depend on the level of

water quality needed, that is: catchment; conveyance; filtration; storage;

distribution; and purification. The amount of water collected is depending on

size of catchment area, surface texture, surface porosity and slopes condition.



Figure 2 Typical components of a residential building rainwater harvesting system for landscape irrigation (Kinkade-Levario, 2007)

NOTE: Both above-grade and below-grade cisterns are shown. For residential systems,

either may be appropriate. It is not necessary to have both types of systems. Cistern size

and catchment area should be balanced for maximum accumulated storage. Not all site

rainfall runoff needs to be directed to cistern, only the quantity required to maintain the

proposed landscape irrigation budget.

1. Rooftop collection 2. Gutter with leaf screen if building adjacent to trees 3. Five to six-inch gutters, sized per local plumbing code 4. Downspout sized per local plumbing code, sediment trap for ground-level

catchment or direct to cistern

5. Pipe to cistern, typically 4-inch diameter schedule 40 PVC pipe. 6. Debris and sediment interceptor, first-flush device. 7. Screw-off end cap for cleaning. 8. Catchbasin for paved/hard surface ground-level runoff collection, with sediment

trap.

9. Rainwater inlet, inlet to cistern must be a minimum of 10 inches below top of cistern. An inflow smoothing filter may be appropriate at this location depending

on proximity of rainwater inlet to irrigation supply filter. The smoothing filter will

slow rainwater inlet turbulence that may disturb the fine sediment settled on the

bottom of the cistern.

10. Maximum water level to be 12 inches below top of cistern. 11. Minimal level of water to maintain priming in landscape irrigation pump

(approximately 12 inches), level of water to be determined by engineer or

irrigation specialist.


12. Twenty-four inch access for cleaning. 13. Alternate water supply, must not obstruct the 24-inch access. Alternate water

supply may be proposed for a cistern manual-fill option for droughts and plant

establishment periods when additional water is required. Alternate water supply

may also be automatic for fill option when rainwater supplies are inefficient.

14. Typical valve 15. Atmospheric vacuum breaker 16. Alternate water source, possibly domestic or municipal supply. 17. Cistern overflows (same size as inlet) to a dry well or gravity outlet to landscape

basin if site conditions allow. An additional option would be to outlet to an

adjacent flood retention underground storage pipe that is tied to a dry well. Cistern

overflow must be a minimum of 12 inches below top of cistern to avoid

contamination of alternate water supply, or be 6 inches below any debris strainers

in an above-grade cistern.

18. Landscape irrigation supply filter with automatic shutoff to maintain priming in pump if water falls below minimum level in cistern. Locate filter a minimum of 6

inches from cistern bottom to avoid settled fine sediment.

19. Optional sand filter 20. Landscape irrigation pump and pressure tank. 21. Typical valve 22. Water supply line for irrigation system. 23. Removable leaf and debris strainer basket. 24. Hose bib for draining cistern.

Figure 3 Rainwater harvesting process (Kinkade-Levario, 2007)



2.2.1 Passive Rainwater Collection and Stormwater

Passive rainwater collection is natural approach. The method collects surface

runoff using such techniques as site grading and permeable surfaces, diverts and

retains stormwater so that it benefits the landscaped elements of a site.

According to Kinkade-Levario [4], there are numerous ways to slow and direct

stormwater, including microbasins, swales, French drains, rain gardens,

permeable pavements, and curb and road grading design.

Figure 4 Passive rainwater harvesting: curb cut allows rainwater from street gutter to enter landscaped/natural desert area (left) and landscape retention basin

(right) (Kinkade-Levario, 2007)

A more natural approach to land development is needed to mimic natural

cycles, especially the hydrological cycle. Therefore, collecting and storing water

in the soil, above the water table, is a process that increases green water levels. Increasing soil moisture means less water needs to be artificially applied

to a landscape to maintain its existence.

2.3 Reduce Water Consumption

The selection of water supply system and fixtures can reduce the water

consumption and sewerage that is produced. Based on Hui [5], these are fixtures

that can reduce the water consumption:

- Toilets: low flush toilet, dual flush toilets (3/6 liters), vacuum or compressed air toilet, cistern displacement devices, waterless toilets,

composting toilets (heated or unheated), incinerating toilets.

- Urinals: urinals control (infrared, radar, autoflush) and waterless urinals.


- Wash hand basins: push taps, flow control, self closing, tap flow regulators.

- Shower: shower mixers, water saving showerheads, and self closing shower system.

- Outside and garden: water control.

- Clothes Washers: water saving washers, control and usage.

- Water supply: auto shut off and pressure regulators

Figure 5 Fixtures that can reduce water consumption (Kinkade-Levario, 2007)

Low-flow faucets and small toilet tanks are now required by code in many areas

of the country. Vacuum-assisted and biocomposting toilets further reduce water

consumption. Biocomposting toilets, available on both residential and

commercial scales, treat sewage on site, eliminating the need for energy-

intensive municipal treatment.

Indigenous landscaping using plants native to the local ecosystem will also reduce water consumption. These plants will have adapted to the local

rainfall levels, eliminating the need for additional watering. Where watering is

needed, the sprinkler heads should be carefully placed and adjusted to avoid

watering the sidewalk and street. (Kim J J, Rigdon B, 1998) Water conservation

can also be done by purifying surface water (river, dam, lake) and ground water.

3 The Implementation of Water Harvesting in Residential: Cole Residence, San Juan Island, AS

Type of system that is used in this house is active system with catchment area is

rooftop around 5000 square feet. The system was installed in 2005 and the



annual rainfall in the area approximately 42 inch. The containment is above-

grade 30,000-gallon metal tank and one 240-gallon ball tank for collecting from

all down spouts prior to gravity feed to tank. Annual quantity collected

approximately 117,810 gallons and water usage is potable water supply.

Equipments that is used in the system is Grundfos 3-horsepower pump, cistern

level controls, 60 gallon pressure tank, and filters (UV, 5 and 1 micron, and 3-

micron charcoal filter).

Figure 6 Pressure tank for the system (left) and tank with the fire hose connection (right) (Kinkade-Levario, 2007)

In an effort to eliminate all polluted water the family has implemented a

rainwater catchment system to provide all potable water. The remote location of

the home also requires a fire-fighting water supply that the local fire and

emergency trucks can hook into when needed.

The home is located 45 feet above the water storage tank. The rainwater is

initially directed to a ball tank that filters the rainwater through gravel in the

bottom of the tank. The ball tank also works as a manifold for directing water

from the multiple drain pipes to a gravityfed pipe that leads intofrom the bottomthe main storage tank situated below the home. The main storage tank is fitted with two withdrawing pipes; the first is a vertical pipe that reaches to

the tank floor.

This pipe remains as a firepump apparatus for emergency use. The second pipe

enters through the tank floor and is attached to a 3- horsepower pump and a 60-

gallon pressure buffer tank, which returns to feed the home above. The metal

tank is lined with a 35-mm polypropylene material that includes a nylon mesh

layer to add strength. The liner sits on a tank floor of bricks set in sand. It

reaches up the walls of the metal tank and is attached at the top of the tank,

which is enclosed with a metal roof. [4]


Figure 7 Equipment room with pump and filters (Kinkade-Levario, 2007)

4 Implementation of Water Conservation in Indonesia

4.1 Water Harvesting or Sistem Pengumpulan Air Hujan (SPAH) Sederhana

In general, all of the water conservation methods mentioned above can be

implemented in Indonesia, especially the one that is related with water

harvesting. As mentioned before, with Indonesias high concentration of rain fall all year and the depleted stock of ground water, then it is strongly suggested

that water harvesting to be implemented in Indonesia.

In general, Indonesian people have unconsciously tried to implement the water

harvesting conventionally, by placing big buckets in their front yards. Water

from the rain that has been collected usually being used to water the plants,

clearing the floors, and other activities which do not require water with

drinkable quality. Even there are idea emerged that water from wudhu are stored

and be used for watering the plants.

Water harvesting implementation in Cole Residence, San Juan Island, USA, can

be used as a benchmark for rain water harvesting system in Indonesia, which

provides a simple, easy, and cheap solution. The way to harvest the water is by

placing gutter which collects rain fall on the house roof, and then distributing

them through pipes to water tanks above or underground. Besides that, for flat

roof, those water pipes can directly be distributed to the water tanks with the Air

Conditioner water. Before entering the tanks, according to the water harvesting

method, it should passed through filtering process first, to ensure that there are

no unwanted materials or dirts entering the water tanks. After the water being



stored in the tanks, then using special pumps they are distributed through pipes

to be used for flushing, watering the plants, car washing, and other activities.

Figure 8 Simple water harvesting in residential, with surface, at grade or above- ground cisterns(left) and below grade or under ground tank (right) (Oo, 2010)

4.2 Passive Rainwater Collection System

Besides the active water harvesting process, passive water harvesting can also

be conducted by distributing the rain water from concretes to ground surfaces.

For this category, the techniques that usually being conducted include site

grading and water absorbing materials for concrete, such as grass block and

paving block.

4.3 Reuse Water with Biority

Reuse water method for water conservation can also be used in Indonesia, by

using household waste water treatment technology via contact media. The

contact media mentioned here come from the result of Pusat Penelitian dan

Pengembangan Permukiman (Puslitbangkim) research called biority. According

to Yudiarti [6], the reuse of water in household should be proposed as legal

rules. However, the action and the result from water reuse in Indonesia should

be studied more thoroughly, especially to understand the risk to health due to

improper application.


Figure 9 Biority, sewerage treatment technology (Puslitbangkim, 2011)

4.4 Reduce Water Consumption

Fixtures that can save water use has begun to popularized in Indonesia recently,

especially on commercial buildings, such as dual flush toilets and eco washer,

water faucet using push and self closing taps. The price of those water saving

fixtures has gradually become achievable for the society, even now most of the

toilets that are being sold in Indonesia use the dual flush, and some sanitary

companies has sold toilets with eco washer fixtures in cheaper packages. This

way, the companies has shared their part to the society to conserve water.

Figure 10 Fixtures that can save water, such as eco washer, dual flush toilet, and aqua auto faucet (self closing) (Toto, 2011)

4.5 Making Infiltration Well and Lubang Resapan Biopori (LRB)

In conversing water, currently the government has encouraged the society to

build infiltration well in their yards. The purpose of this is to increase the

ground water level, that during the dry season we can still obtain water. Besides

that, the infiltration well is very suitable for high density houses. For every

house/ building per 50 m2, one infiltration well can be build with 1 m

3 volume.

There are other alternative for infiltration well, which is by constructing Lubang

Resapan Biopori (LRB). LRB is a hole that being builds vertically in the ground

with 10 centimeter of diameter, depth of 1 meter, and only took 8 minutes to

construct it. For every 7 m2 of building requires 1 unit of LRB. [6]



Another way for this method is by planting several types of plants in front of the

house, so not all of the garden area consisted of hardscapes, and there is still

area remaining for water to enter the soil.

Besides that, according to Vale and Vale [8], the society behavior towards water

use is considered to be the most important part in water conservation, because

all of the aforementioned methods above would work, without the support of

the user. The use of water saving fixture in the long run, can become

ineffective, depends on the user behavior.

Figure 11 Rainwater infiltration well (Savitri, 2009)

5 Conclusion

In conclusion, water conservation awarenesss and implementation has to start in Indonesia, starting from the household level. The appropriate methods for

water conservation in Indonesia can be categorized as follows:

- Simple water harvesting system by using gutter that collects rain water and distributing in through pipes to the water tanks.

- Passive water harvesting system by specified site grading that can distribute water from the hardscape to the softscape, or by implementing

water barrier or retention so the water flow do not go to the hardscape

surface.

- Optimum use of Puslitbangkim innovation result, through household waste water treatment technology via contact media called biority as one

alternative for water conservation (water reuse).


- The implementation of water saving fixtures, such as dual flush toilet with eco water, faucet with push and self closing taps.

- Construction of infiltration well in household garden to maintain the quality and the quantity of ground water.

- The most important method is by implementing lifestyle and behavior that supports water saving.

The constant exploitation of ground water, decreasing of rainwater catchment

area gradually and unwise use of water are most common things happened in

Indonesia regarding water supply. If there is no action being done, then one can

imagine what will happen someday, that is clean water crisis. People who live

in downtown area of Bandung are experiencing difficulty in obtaining their

water supply. Water supply from PDAM (Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum) only

can be obtained occasionally and not continuously, also the quality of ground

water is not good.

Therefore, finding most appropriate water conservation method in Indonesia is

important thing. From this paper, we can conclude that water conservation that

can be done in Indonesia is: water harvesting; implementation of passive

rainwater collection with site grading; the use of product from Puslitbangkim,

biority for reuse water; using fixtures that can save water, start from the

affordable fixtures; making of infiltration well and lubang resapan biopori in

the house; and the last one is implementing lifestyle and behavior that supports

water saving.

Acknowledgment

This paper originally made to fulfill the assignment for Architecture and Technology in Architecture Department, School Architecture, Planning, and Policy Development, Institute Technology Bandung (ITB), Indonesia

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Finding the Most Appropriate Method of Water Conservation in Indonesia: A Literature Review Study

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