Like two sides of a coin, drinking water and sanitation are interlinked and inseparable. Improper sanitation can harm the sustainability of water services and climate change may cause changes in rainfall patterns, impacting the functionality of sanitation services.
To implement the 2020–2024 National Medium Term Development Plan (Rencana Pembangunan Jangka Menengah Nasional/RPJMN)’s integrated drinking water and domestic wastewater management program, Malang city government issued a regional regulation in 2021 on an additional responsibility of the city’s water utility to manage regular cleaning of septic tanks service known as “desludging”.
“The regulation mandated us to include scheduled desludging service as a business unit and to protect raw water sources from contamination. As such, we can sustain the provision of healthy and safely managed drinking water services,” said a member of the Tugu Tirta Water Utility’s scheduled desludging service (Layanan Lumpur Tinja Terjadwal/LLTT) preparation team, Depri Setiawan.
As Tugu Tirta Water Utility manages the desludging service, a domestic wastewater management operator (Unit Pelaksana Teknis Daerah Pengelolaan Air Limbah Domestik/UPTD PALD) will manage a septage treatment plant, where the septage is treated to be safe to be discharged to water source.
However, managing the desludging service is not easy. The Coordinator of Tugu Tirta Utility’s Scheduled Desludging Service Preparation Team, Mujiyono explained, “the scheduled desludging service is a huge opportunity for the water utility to increase its income as we have more than 175,000 potential customers. Yet, it is also a challenge for us because the community has not seen the service as a need.”
Aside from the low community awareness, the local utility is not yet able to deliver the service as the water utility still needs supporting mayor regulations on the operation and tariff.
Hence, since October 2022, Tugu Tirta Utility works with USAID IUWASH Tangguh and other government offices to draft mayor regulations on the scheduled desludging service operations and tariff.
To increase community awareness of the scheduled desludging service, the water utility and USAID IUWASH Tangguh will market the service and educate Malang city residents on its importance. They will also survey potential customers to ensure their willingness to use and pay for the service.
Mujiyono said, “the mayor’s regulations on the scheduled desludging service operations and tariff are now finalized by the law department and expected to be enacted soon.”
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