The coveted Surya Cipta City of Industry located in Karawang, Indonesia, has been seeing a rapid increase in growth and development over the last couple of years. With that, it’s important that its wastewater infrastructure remain resilient to the increasing impact of water on the systems. Due to this influx, the municipality of Karawang chose the Organica Water solution to treat the increased capacity of wastewater needing to be treated.
Organica Water’s facility, which started construction in September of 2016 and got inaugurated in November 2018, has a capacity of 5,000 – 10,000 m3/d and is showing a new, more efficient way to meet the rising demand of the systems. President Director of PT Surya Semesta Internusa Tbk (SSIA), Johannes Suriadjaja explained that this facility will process the entirety of the waste located in the Surya Cipta’s Karawang Industrial Estate, as well as from tenants spread across 3,000 acres of the region.
SSIA‘s Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, Erlin Budiman, described how the existence of this environmentally friendly facility would increase waste water treatment capacities to 16,000 m3/d. This is compared to the old treatment facility which had a capacity of 11,000 m3/d.
“The capacity of the installed WWTP is intended to treat the wastewater produced by tenants in the Suryacipta Industrial Area which stands on an area of approximately 1,400 hectares,” Budiman said.
Ari Raivetz, CEO, Organica Water stands with President Director, Johannes Suriadjaja (center) in Surya Cipta facility
This facility also applies green energy principles, by utilizing solar energy in the form of solar panels. The installed capacity of these solar panels is far exceeding the existing energy that was being used to treat the water. Combined with the operational cost savings from the updated Organica facility, these solar panels will create less energy from the plant, thus saving the region on energy and operational costs.
In addition, the construction of this facility was also done in an effort towards preservation. The region holds an active participation in supporting the Harum Citarum program, which is an initiation by the government to reduce pollution in the Citarum river.
The Citarum river, which is the largest and longest in West Java, has recently received an increased level of attention from the government due to pollution concerns. Based on data from the Office of the Environment of West Java’s Province, there are at least 2,000 textile industries along the Citarum river, 90% of which do not have adequate treatment facilities. In addition to the industries, roughly 20,000 tons of waste and 340,000 tons of wastewater, ranging from domestic household waste to human waste are directly disposed every day into what used to be a clear and pristine waterway.
Due to the water not efficiently being treated, local fisherman, residents, businesses and wildlife (mostly fish) are largely affected by this impure epidemic. Despite trash piling up in the waters and conditions being deemed unsafe, the Citarum river continues to be a vital necessity for the 25 million people who depend on it daily for agriculture, water, and electricity.
“With the existence of this wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), we hope to help the government reduce the level of pollution in the Citarum River, while at the same time inspiring the community to take care of the environment, especially the Citarum River, so that it can benefit many people,” Suriadjaja commented.
Having clean water will improve the quality of various sources which depend on the water for resources such as drinking and crop yields. In the future, this clean water initiative will help to revitalize the ecosystem and the volume of fish/wildlife in the river. The river also will help to make the Jatiluhur Reservoir cleaner. The Jatiluhur, which is Indonesia’s largest reservoir, not only supplies clean water for the city of Bandung but also provides up to 80% of the water supplied for the capital.
By being utilized at the Surya Cipta Industry, Organica Water’s solution is aiding in the Citarum river rejuvenation and pollution clean-up efforts, by reducing the amount of wastewater being deposited into the river. Additionally, the solution is saving energy by utilizing solar panels and reducing operational costs. The Surya Cipta facility uses modern wastewater processing with Organica Water, which is the latest treatment technology to be applied in Indonesia.
