The Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR) reveals that the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) in East Kalimantan has clean drinking water facilities and better quality compared to bottled drinking water (AMDK).
“So the quality of water as a result of the water treatment installation is standard, In shaa Allah (God willing), better than bottled drinking water,” PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said as quoted by Antara on Saturday, August 3, 2024.
Antara reported that the clean water that has been processed in the Drinking Water Supply System (SPAM) facility is cleaner than AMDK produced by local companies.
Based on quality tests by the PUPR ministry, SPAM in Sepaku has succeeded in changing the turbidity level of river water from 27,000 to 0.208 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), making it more benign.
With 0.208 NTU, this shows that the water has few suspended particles and is safe for consumption or use in processes that require clean water.
NTU is a unit of measurement in measuring turbidity in a liquid. This measurement was carried out using the nephelometric method, which measures the intensity of light scattered by suspended particles in a water sample.
The overall construction process of the Sepaku SPAM has reached 90 percent and has started flowing water to the IKN area since last week, after completing tests on July 20-22, 2024.
The Sepaku SPAM phase I is targeted to serve the Garuda Palace and the IKN State Palace, the State Secretariat building, the Presidential Security Detail (Paspampres) lodging, the Coordinating Ministries Complex 1,2,3 and 4. Then, the amphitheater, gallery, service area, state civil servant (ASN) housing, and the Minister’s official residence, as well as other public facilities, such as hotels, schools, shops, and hospitals.
The Sepaku SPAM facility is equipped with a five-stage drinking water treatment installation until it reaches consumers in the IKN area. The water treatment installation or IPA at the location has a capacity of 300 liters per second.
“The raw water processed at the Sepaku SPAM comes from the Sepaku River which flows right next to the SPAM. The river water then enters the aeration facility to oxidize iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) so that they do not dissolve and facilitate sedimentation,” Muhammad Ardito, SPAM Sepaku personnel, said.
In the advanced processing stage, the water is then flowed to the coagulation-flocculation sedimentation (KFS) facility to reduce the levels of colloidal particles in the water by mixing chemical reagents so that particles are formed that can be quickly and cheaply precipitated.
Meanwhile, the water from the production that has met the quality of drinking water or portable water is then disinfected with chlorine which functions to maintain the quality of drinking water from the dangers of pathogenic bacteria in the clearwell installation.
To reach consumers in the IKN, SPAM distributes water via a pipe network, using gravity techniques for about 22 kilometers. The ready-to-drink water is distributed using the main distribution network (JDU) multi-utility tunnel (MUT) and non-MUT.
