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7/31/2019 Indonesia Water Supply and Sanitation Magazine PERCIK June 2004. Sanitation Underestimate
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7/31/2019 Indonesia Water Supply and Sanitation Magazine PERCIK June 2004. Sanitation Underestimate
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Information Media for Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation
Advisor:
Director General for Urban and
Rural Development, Ministry of Settlement
and Regional Infrastructure
Director of Human Settlement and Housing,
National Development Planning Agency
Republic of Indonesia
Director of Water and Sanitation,
Ministry of Health
Director of Urban and Rural Eastern Region,
Ministry of Settlement and Regional
InfrastructureDirector of Natural Resources and Appropriate
Technology, Director General on Village and
Community Empowerment,
Ministry of Home Affairs
Director for Facilitation of Special Planning
Environment Management,
Ministry of Home Affairs
Chief Editor:
Oswar Mungkasa
Board of Editor:
Hartoyo, Johan Susmono,
Indar Parawansa, Poedjastanto
Editor:
Maraita Listyasari, Rewang Budiyana,
Rheidda Pramudhy, Joko Wartono,
Essy Asiah, Mujiyanto
Design:
Rudi Kosasih
Production:
Machrudin
Distribution:
Anggie Rifki
Address:
Jl. Cianjur No. 4, Menteng, Jakarta Pusat
Phone: (021) 31904113
e-mail: [email protected]
Unsolicited article or opinion items are welcome.
Please send to our address or e-mail.
Don't forget to be brief and accompanied
by identity.
From Editor 1
Your Voice 2
Main Report
Sanitation Underestimated 3
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All
(WASH Campaign) 9
Observing MDGs Sanitation 10
Interview
Ir. Susmono
Sanitation Is More Important Than Electricity 12
ArticleEcological Sanitation 15
Lessons Learned From Sanitation Development 16
Drinking Water Service:
Sustainability and Its Effect Upon Community
Well-Being 18
Community Empowerment and Development System 20
Making Environmental Institutions More
Influential, An Idea 21
Reportage
A piece of story from Ciliwung river bankNever Drink River Water 22
Manner
Phytoremediation An Effort to Process Wastewater
with Plant Media 24
Agus Gunarto Household Wastewater
Treatment System 26
Telescope
Kabupaten Subang: Pioneer in Formulation of
Drinking Water and Environmental Sanitation Policy 27
H.M. Machri S., Chairman of Bappeda, Kabupaten Subang
This is the Communitys Demand 28
Book Info 29
CD Info 30
Website Info 31
Field Visit 32
Waspola 34
AMPL 38
Library 42
Glossary 43
Agenda 44
7/31/2019 Indonesia Water Supply and Sanitation Magazine PERCIK June 2004. Sanitation Underestimate
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Dear readers,
As time flows we were not aware that
this is the moment for us to meet each
other again. In the meantime we have
done our best to make changes in order to
make Percik more enjoyable to read,
attractive and it serves as an accurate re-
ference for one observing, studying, ma-
naging water supply and environmental
sanitation service in Indonesia.
We try our best that each edition con-
tains inter-related topics. In the last edi-
tion, Percik brought you Millennium De-
velopment Goals, in the present it is car-
rying issues related to sanitation. This to-
pic is important because it represents oneof the targets in MDGs that must be
achieved in 2015. Moreover, sanitation is
one of the nagging problems in Indo-
nesia.
In the decade of 1980s there was the
Water and Sanitation Decade. But the
outcome is below expectation. Various
constraints were cropping up. From the
community side, awareness and know-
ledge is wanting. Let alone low income as
another major stumbling block. It is ag-
gravated with the outbreak of economic
crisis of 1997. Based on monitoring, a na-tion with a GNP of less than USD 1.000
must have a poor sanitation condition.
To this community priorities are many
things other than sanitation. From the
government side, central as well as re-
gional, budget allocation for sanitation is
small. Sanitation is no priority. Whereas
to improve awareness level of the com-
munity an integrated movement is need-
ed. This is just about the basic sanitation,
let alone the environmental sanitation
which is way beyond expectation.
Therefore, sanitation is not an indepen-
dent issue and need an involvement of all
the stakeholders.
It is interesting to learn form ecologi-
cal sanitation which has been practised in
East Asia for hundreds of years. Ecologi-
cal sanitation is a cycle, or a close loop
system which processes human waste as a
resource. Human excrement is proces-
sed in situ until it is free from pathogenic
organisms and then recycled into farming
activity. Large scale application of this
technology can free soil, river, lake and
sea from contamination from human
waste.
As an interesting solution to basic
sanitation question, we are offering you
Agus Gunarto's success in developing a
domestic waste processing system. The
system has been internationally acknow-
ledged for its "sophistication" and in
2001 won World Technology Award in
England. Besides, in a larger scale, it isalso advisable to look into waste water
management by phytoremediation me-
thod, using plants as media for neutrali-
zing heavy metal and radioactive contam-
inated water. This technology is also re-
commendable to remedy solid waste dis-
posal site.
Dear Readers,
Compared from the earlier editions
the present Percik is already comple-
mented with an ISSN. Its contents are
more varied. There are new columns:
Teropong (telescope), Info CD, and Light
News. Glossary re-emerges. Wawasan
(insight) brings with it more than 2 arti-
cles. This is intended to present you with
more information. Photographic and car-
toon illustrations are inserted in several
articles. We hope this serves for your sa-
tisfaction. Best regards.
ROM E DITORF
1PercikJune 2004
In the decade of 1980s
there was the Water and
Sanitation Decade.But the outcome is below
expectation. Various con-
straints were cropping up.
From the community side,
awareness and
knowledge is wanting.
7/31/2019 Indonesia Water Supply and Sanitation Magazine PERCIK June 2004. Sanitation Underestimate
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Bravo Percik
Inter-agency integration is a prerequi-
site. This is reflected in Percik. Withoutintegrity it is impossible to have Percikappear before us. Percik which specifical-ly discusses water supply and environ-mental sanitation issues from top to bot-tom has been read by all from the highofficials to the common people.
If I may suggest, aside from thenational policy, it might be plausible ifPercik also publish WSS related commu-nity initiative from various locations thatmight inspire those who work in the samefield.
[email protected] activist
Thank you for your suggestion. As anew media, Percik will always be open toany input and suggestion. Up to this timewe have been trying our best to have theWSS related stories from all over thecountry, the success and the failure. Yetthere is limit to what we get. We will con-tinue to try so that Percik can be betterand satisfy your expectation. (Ed.)
Additional Article
To begin with, I would like to congra-tulate for the issuance of Percik bulletin. Ihave read Percik from 1st through 3rd edi-tions. This bulletin contains a lot of use-ful information for those who work withinthe realm of water supply and environ-mental sanitation. And this can generateinterest from those who are not yet inte-rested to water supply and environmentalsanitation issues.
I would like to suggest the readerswould consider adding into it a more aca-demic treatise as a balance to the issuesrelated to water supply and sanitation. Inaddition, since this bulletin is one of the
activities of the WSS Working Group, itmight be recommendable to also insert itsagenda of activities so that the readerswould be aware of how far the Group hastried to respond to the problems related towater supply and environmental sanita-tion.
Fany WedaA Percik reader
Jakarta
You've made a good suggestion. We
will try it in the forthcoming editions asPercik's distribution coverage becomeslarger. Up to now the coverage area isstill limited so that many of the expertsmay not be aware of Percik's existence.As for the WSS Working Group agendawe have included it in each editionthough not in a complete form. We willtry to present the agenda in a better for-mat in the future. (Ed.)
Lack of Expert's Opinion
Reading Percik, I am interested in
Cermin (mirror) of Edition II/Oct. 2003and Reportase (Edition III/Febr. 2004)columns. The columns illustrate Indone-sian community struggle with the "ro-mantics" of the world of WSS. From CakSolekhan of Kureksari, Sidoarjo who like"an owl dreaming for a moon" is yearningfor a water supply access from the localPDAM network till Ms. Yani of Jakartawho has no objection to pay Rp2.000 each
time she uses a public toilet.
I would suggest to include the expert'sopinion in several relevant subject mat-ters, through an interview, for instance,attached to the respective article. Theauthor's opinion should not be too domi-nant in a reportase writing. And lastly, Iam convinced that all Percik Editorialstaff would be respectful to a presidentand vice president candidate who care forWSS issues in Indonesia. Regards.
RomliA Percik reader
Jakarta
In reportase writing we deliberatelymake it as a light feature story thus inclu-sion of personal opinion is likely to hap-pen. Your suggestion for inserting anexpert's opinion is worth consideration.We all hope that the president and vicepresident candidates care for water sup-ply and environmental sanitation issues.(Ed.)
O U R V O I C EY
2 PercikJune 2004
PHOTOS GALLERY
SOURCE: MUJIYANTO
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The awareness of the importance
of sanitation to the modern soci-
ety began with a sanitation revo-
lution in the 19th century in London, in
1832 to be exact, when Metropolitan
Water Act made it a requirement that
drinking water supply must be provided
through a filtering process. Soon after-
wards, John Snow proved it that after
termination of river Thames pumping atBroad Street the prevalence of cholera
epidemic in London in 1855 was sub-
siding.
The prevalence of cholera epidemic of
Hamburg in 1892 explicitly indicates the
correlation between contaminated water
with disease. While a routine bacterial
examination in water supply service was
introduced in London since 1885, and the
use of chlorine in processing drinking
water was since started, which perhaps
represents the most efficient technology
at that time.It could be summarized that the
awareness of the importance of sanitation
started only in the middle of 19th century.
However, the awareness was not directly
followed with a real action. As an illustra-
tion, even in the United States the federal
government allocated a subsidy budget
for sanitation purposes only as late as
1950s. Sanitation development became a
reality only after the establishment of an
institution called Environmental Protec-
tion Agency (EPA) and the launching of
Water Pollution Act in early 1970s.
At the global level, only in 1980s the
United Nations proclaimed 1981-1990 as
Water Decade which indicates that drink-
ing water and sanitation is acknowledged
as an important matter which concerns
the nations of the whole world. Since
then, drinking water and sanitation is no
more the concern of only a few nations.
A I N RE P O RT
SANITATION
UNDERESTIMATED
M
3PercikJune 2004
Sanitation does not seem an alien word to us. However,there are perhaps only very few of us who realize how
important sanitation is to our life. The importance of
sanitation may be appropriately represented by a state-
ment made by Mahatma Gandhi: "Sanitation is more
important than independence".
SOURCE: OSWAR MUNGKASA
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From the proclamation of the Water
Decade up to now, the time lapsed has
been long enough. But a question re-
mains in our mind why up to now sanita-
tion has not been our interest or priority
in our daily life in Indonesia. Unlike
drinking water which relatively has
gained a measurable attention, sanitation
here in this country, still remains a sub-
ject not worth any consideration.
Although Water Decade has long gone
behind us, yet sanitation has not received
as much attention as drinking has had is
also evidenced from the world level policy
makers. In the MDGs initial targets set-
ting, sanitation was not placed as an expli-
cit target but rather as a corollary conse-quence to the management of slum areas.
Through an intensive campaign by sever-
al water and sanitation activities includ-
ing Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
(WASH) it was only in the Sustainable
Development Meeting in Johannesburg in
2002 that sanitation became one of the
main targets together with drinking
water.
The Importance of sanitation
The role of sanitation in relation to
community health has been generally
understood. To a greater extent infant
mortality rate is caused by a poor water
and sanitation condition. The same is
said about the prevalence of diarrhoeal
case for a specific location. At a global
level, WHO estimates that 1,8 million
annual death tolls are caused by diarrhea.
While approximately 5.500 children die
daily from contaminated water and food.
The rate of infant mortality in slum areas
reaches 121 for every 1.000 child births in
2001.
It is estimated that the direct and indi-
rect economic cost from poor sanitation
in Indonesia is estimated at 2,4 percent of
Gross Domestic Product in 2001 (approx.Rp65 trillion) or Rp180.000 per capita
per annum. This amount is considered
too high especially when compared with
e.g. educational budget which is only
Rp15,34 trillion per annum.
A study on the impact of sanitation to
the economy in the cities of Yogyakarta
and Medan in 2000 indicates relatively
low figures: Rp100.000 and Rp90.000
per capita per annum in Yogyakarta and
Medan, respectively.
If poor sanitation charges additional
costs to the economy, this of course will
adversely influence economic growth.
This is empirically proven from several
studies which conclude that good sanita-tion condition is one of the prerequisites
for economic growth.
What is less understood is perhaps the
effect of water supply and sanitation to
direct income improvement through less
expenditure for water and sanitation pur-
poses.
An acceptable water and sanitation
condition also decreases expenditure for
health care and treatment of water and
sanitation related diseases.
Besides, productivity increases be-
cause there are less inactive days due to
sickness.
To state it simply, an improved water
supply and sanitation service will reduce
poverty, improve health status, productiv-
ity, competitiveness, and eventually the
economic growth.
A I N RE P O RTM
4 PercikJune 2004
In 1980 the UN declared Interna-
tional Water and Sanitation Decade
for the purpose of improving the
universal access to water and sa-
nitation in the developing nations.
Access is determined by each indi-
vidual nation, but in general it is
agreed that each person needs 20
litres of water every day and is
taken from a source not more than
1,6 km from where he lives
The achievement of Water Decade
is determined by an increase of
service at an average of 10 percentwith the majority takes place in the
rural areas
Water Decade is considered a fai-
lure despite of success in incre-
asing the service but the population
growth is bigger in excess of 20 -
30 percent.
Year 2000: 2,4 billion of world population lack access to improved sanitation, and
81 percent of them are in the rural areas. Besides, 1,1 billion lack access to
drinking water facility, 86 percent of them are rural population
More than 2,2 million people of the developing nations, most of them children,
die every year from the diseases related to lack of water supply, poor sanitation
and poor hygiene condition
Approximately there are 6.000 children die from poor sanitation every day. This
figure is equal to the casualties of 20 Boeing aircraft accidents every day
An acceptable water supply and sanitation service reduces the prevalence of
cholera by 26 percent
Poor sanitation reduces attendance of girl students at schools
National economic condition is aggravated with the need to allocate additional
fund for health care and medication, and the loss of productive hours caused by
poor water supply and sanitation.
FACTS ABOUT WATER AND SANITATION
Water Decade:1981-1990
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Facts and Global Challenge
In September 2000, The UN General
Assembly proclaimed the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) which con-
sists of targets set by global communities
to reduce poverty and improve health and
welfare of the whole nation. In Septem-
ber 2002, in the World Summit on Sus-
tainable Development in Johannesburg
the UN reaffirmed the MDGs and put an
additional targets specifically pertainingto hygiene and sanitation. This repre-
sents the global community resoluteness
about the importance of sanitation.
It is estimated that by 2015 the world
population will reach 7 billion and the
majority of the growth takes place in the
developing nations. The growth will
increase the number of population with-
out access to acceptable sanitation to 3,4
billion by that year. To fulfill the MDGs
target WHO estimates that an additional
150 million population have to have
access to sanitation each year. Looking at
our present capacity the MDGs target can
only be reached in 2025. The govern-
ment and donor institutions and coun-
tries must work hard. Why not involve
the community to share this heavy bur-
den?
The inclusion of sanitation in the
MDGs represents a giant step but at the
same time poses a big challenge for the
government and the international institu-
tions to reach the target. It is even under-
stood as the most ambitious of all MDGs
targets. Presently only 16 percent of the
developing nations (cf. 37 percent for
drinking water) are considered capable of
achieving the targets. With the present
level of investment, in Africa the MDGs
targets can only be achieved by 2050,
Asia 2025, and Latin America by 2040.Without a political will and a real com-
mitment, the targets cannot be realized.
Our challenge in Indonesia is how to
replicate the international promotional
successes to Indonesian stakeholders.
Currently 80 percent of world popula-
tion (1,9 billion) are without access to
sanitation and mostly are the rural popu-
lation. It is acknowledged that most of
the population growth takes place espe-
cially in the urban slums, therefore the
attention to urban slums is of the same
rate as that of the villages.
Other matter that must be taken into
consideration is that access to sanitation
is different among different nations as it
is among regions within a nation. This
condition makes it necessary for the plan-ners to make implementation priorities
so that an investment can be made so as
to reach an optimum result.
The sustainability of a sanitation pro-
gram becomes a crucial factor when the
availability of drinking water is a con-
straint. The population growth makes the
requirement for drinking water rises
sharply, and it is estimated that by 2025
35 percent of the world population will
live in the urban areas with drinking
water problem. The present sanitation
system needs 50-100 litres of water toflush 1-1,5 litres of human waste every
day. This system causes a small amount
A I N RE P O RTM
5PercikJune 2004
The provision of an acceptable sanitation facility is necessary to protect thehealth condition of human being and the environment. For this purpose, weagree to reduce by half, in year 2015, the proportion of population who are with-
out access to basic sanitation, that will cover the following activities at all levels
to:
i develop and implement an efficient household sanitation
ii improvement of sanitation in public institution particularly school
iii promote a safe hygienic practice
iv promote education to children as agent of change
v promote an acceptable and affordable technology and practice in con-
formance with the local socio-cultural condition
vi develop a partnership mechanism and innovative payment system
vii integrate sanitation into water resources development strategy
Agreement on Sanitation from
Johannesburg Summit 2002
SOURCE: BAMBANG PURWANTO
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of human waste contaminates a large
amount of water. The need for an alter-
native sanitation which requires less
water becomes the present day challenge.
Finding a sustainable and environmen-
tally friendly method in achieving MDGs
targets is one of the global challenges.
The other challenge is to translate the
term sanitation into a commonly and
widely understood by all. Take as an
example, in Germany there is no such
term comparable to sanitation, so that the
German use abwasser which means waste
water. As a result, there are many who
translate the MDGs basic sanitation tar-
get as waste water treatment. In Asia andAfrica the translation of basic sanitation
has nothing to do with sewerage drain.
Sanitation is like a double edged
sword. It is part of solution but at the
same time also as a part of a problem.
The use of a large amount of water to
flush human excrement contributes to
water scarcity problem, while waste-
water is one of the causes of water con-
tamination.
Developing nations are faced
with several problems in the appli-
cation of flush toilet. Beside water
insufficiency, the availability of
wastewater treatment system is
also problematic. As a conse-
quence, wastewater from a septic
tank is disposed of into an
improper place. If there were
wastewater treatment facility, mo-
re often than not it is not function-
ing properly.
Water scarcity becomes a more
prominent problem of the world.
It cannot be solved only throughconservation but must also be sup-
ported with reduction in water
use. Sanitation is obviously one of
the causes since the present envi-
ronmental sanitation system
needs at least 10 litres of water for one
flushing, while for daily eating and drink-
ing one person needs only 5 litres at the
most. While the more water used for san-
itation the bigger the investment is need-
ed to process the waste water.
The investment requirement cannot
be fulfil led from the local resources,therefore government assistance or sub-
sidy must be provided for. As for the
urban areas, the majority of users are the
rich, thus most of the assistance or sub-
sidy goes to the well-to-do families. The
cost incurred for wastewater treatment is
5-6 times higher than that for drinking
water.
Difficulty in financing threat has been
lingering around sanitation development
in the world. Currently the expenditure
for wastewater treatment amounts to
USD14 million a year while an additional
of USD56 million is awaiting if the MDGs
targets are to be achieved. Quite a signi-
ficant additional investment. The target
investment could actually be reduced if a
less costly appropriate technology be-
comes an alternative. In addition, ano-
ther alternative such as ecological sanita-
tion should also be considered.
Capital intensive sanitation system
such as the ones being developed present-
ly is more appropriate for the developed
world but not for the developing nations.
It has come the time to review the system
so far being developed. The basic ques-
tion is how appropriate is the sanitation
and wastewater treatment system devel-opment so far being implemented?
Whether it is not recommendable to find
a water thrifty alternative and apply the
recycling principle? The alternative
should not be limited for the poor fami-
lies but must also be applicable to the
homes of the well-to-do who in reality are
the major users of the present sanitation
system.
It is recognized that sanitation has not
received the proper attention from the
whole community therefore it needs a
more comprehensive public campaign.
The latest anthropological studies indi-
cate that embarrassment becomes the
most prominent aspect that motivates
behavioural change. Health and hygiene
logic has had less influence in compari-
son to social logic such as reputation or
moral logic such as embarrassment in
attracting the community's attention to
A I N RE P O RTM
6 PercikJune 2004
Improve the local and national ca-
pacity in the management of water
resources development, sanitation
and drinking water supply including
the civil society, private and public
sectors.
Support the community/household
through provision of grant to im-
prove water supply and sanitation -
with specific emphasis on ecologi-
cal sanitation.
Support ecosystem based solution
to human waste treatment in the
framework prevention of diseases
and protection of the environment.
Support and strengthen the partici-
pation of women in sanitation, drin-
king water and water source mana-
gement.
UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM (UNDP) PRIORITY
SOURCE: BAMBANG PURWANTO
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the importance of sanitation. This is
probably the reason why the present
sanitation motto reads sanitation is
dignity. This condition may radically
change the present conventional
campaign format.
Indonesian condition
Up until year 2002 the proportion
of Indonesian population who have
access to an acceptable basic sanita-
tion, consisting of drop pit latrine or
septic tank, was 63,5 percent. In vil-
lages the proportion is relatively
lower, only 52,5 percent, while in the
urban 77,5 percent. Although thetotal number of households with
access is seemingly high, we have to
look more closely into the figure.
There is an indication that the actual
number might be lower. The number
tells us the available facilities without
saying anything about quality. It is
estimated that at this time many of
the basic sanitation facilities should
not be used anymore because they do
not meet hygiene and environmental
requirement. As an illustration, in
rural areas the septic tank is locatedless than 10 m from a water source.
In comparison to other S.E Asian
countries such as Singapore,
Thailand, Philippines the condition in
Indonesia is falling behind. Our sani-
tation condition here equals with that
of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos,
which were just been out from war.
Looking extensively at the condi-
tion in each province, one will find in
many areas a sanitation condition
one will be apprehensive about, such
as a proportion of households with-
out access to sanitation above 50 per-
cent level. The majority of the areas
are in East Indonesia such as NTB,
Gorontalo, Maluku, Papua, C. Su-
lawesi, C. Kalimantan, S. Kalimantan,
W. Kalimantan. Some areas in West
Indonesia, such as West Sumatra and
West Java also have their sanitation
below the national average.
Indonesia is one of S.E Asian
countries with the lowest sewerage
system coverage. The investment le-
vel of investment in sanitation is rel-
atively the lowest in Asia. Only a few
big cities such as Jakarta, Medan,
Solo, Yogyakarta, Cirebon, Banjar-
masin, Balikpapan, Tangerang are
with a centralized sewerage system,
yet with a limited coverage. In total
this covers not more than 2,16 per-
cent of Indonesian population.
The absence of formal network
and infrastructure has made house-
holds and small scale serviceproviders provide the majority of
services, including installation and
draining off services. It is estimated
73 percent of urban households have
on-site sanitation, mostly with
underrated septic tank construction.
While on the other hand, wastewater
disposal system is insufficient
including lack of wastewater treat-
ment installation. This condition re-
presents one of the main causes for
environmental pollution, both gro-
und as well as surface water which isthe primary source for PDAM water.
Sanitation is not a priority for the
central as well regional governments.
Investment for sanitation by central
government either through APBN or
from loan has not made any mean-
ingful improvement. A loan funded
project such as Water Supply and
Sanitation for Low Income
Communities (WSSLIC)-1 and -2,
including a project currently under
preparation Community Water
Supply and Health (CWSH), though
clearly indicates sanitation in the
project title, yet in reality sanitation
is playing a relatively small portion.
Especially after the regional autono-
my, with authority now in the hands
of the regions, sanitation tends to be
underestimated. However, an effort
such as Sanitasi oleh Masyarakat
A I N RE P O RTM
7PercikJune 2004
SANITATION CONDITION OF RURAL IN SOUTH EAST ASIA
Cambodia
LaosVietnam
Indonesia
South East Asia
Myanmar
Philipine
Thailand
Malaysia
Cambodia
LaosIndonesia
South East AsiaVietnam
MyanmarPhilipineThailandMalaysia
Singapore
CambodiaLaosVietnam
IndonesiaAsia
MyanmarMalaysiaPhilipineThailand
Singapore
Rural Urban Total
PROPORTION
SANITATION CONDITION OF URBAN IN SOUTH EAST ASIA
SANITATION CONDITION IN SOUTH EASTASIA
PROPORTION OF HOUSEHOLD WITH
IMPROVED SANITATION IN INDONESIA
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(SANIMAS, Sanitation by the
Community) Project as well other com-
munity based sanitation activities, have
at least indicated a promising indication
of government and community attention
to sanitation.
Important Issue and Plan for
the Future
Although at the national level the
access to basic sanitation is relatively
high, there is an indication that the data
do not represent the actual situation. The
coverage data do not mention anything
about the quality of the available basic
sanitation. The high rate of ground water
pollution is hypothetically caused by thelow quality basic sanitation facility. It is
deemed necessary to develop a more
detailed data base to indicate the quality
of the available facility.
Unlike drinking water, sanitation is
not yet an issue. This relates to inequity
in demand for sanitation. The communi-
ty does not consider sanitation as an
important demand. When the communi-
ty does not put sanitation as a demand
then the politicians would just neglect it.
At the most, though they began to realize
it but because of budget limitation theyjust opt in favour of activities that have
been acknowledged as a community
demand.
The important message is, sanitation
must reach the hands of decision makers.
In normative term sanitation is impor-
tant but without any demand pressure
from the community sanitation can never
be a political issue. Sanitation must be
raised to a political issue.
Conducting advocacy in order to
make the community understand the
importance of sanitation can be consid-
ered as the initial step. Advocacy can bemade in many ways. It is needed to
improve the decision making quality and
community participation in its process.
An effective advocacy does not only come
in the form of a promotion on the impor-
tance of drinking water supply and sani-
tation but also include other dimensions
such as policy, civil society, democracy,
and individual interests.
It has been acknowledged that sanita-
tion does not only relate to technological
and environmental aspects but equally
important is its relation to changes in
behaviour and cultural habit of the com-
munity. To change people's behaviour
and cultural habit is done through educa-
tion. Therefore schoolchildren become
the most appropriate medium for intro-
duction of the changes. Sanitation should
be included within educational curricu-
lum.
WASPOLA project has produced aNational Policy for Water Supply and
Environmental Sanitation development,
though it is still necessary to undertake a
more profound study on the sanitation
aspect of policy. Some of the important
issues that we need to develop deeper
include the strategy in linking household,
community, and city wide sanitation sys-
tems; coordination among institutions at
the central, regional and other stakehold-ers; decentralization in sanitation man-
agement; rural vs. urban sanitation.
The investment budget currently
available is considered insufficient to
cover the whole demand. The investment
does not only cover the costs for new con-
struction but also for operation and
maintenance purposes. Besides, addi-
tional fund is also needed for handling
environmental pollution caused by faulty
urban sanitation system. Lack of incen-
tive for the local government is one of the
reasons. There are a number of questions
suggested, among others, (i) how to
mobilize fund for city scale sanitation sys-
tem; (ii) what is the government pre-
paredness for an alternative financing
format; (iii) how could the community
participation for sanitation system provi-
sion be strengthened.
Sanitation has an impact to various
aspects of human life, including poverty,
health, cleanliness, pride, even economic
growth, such as mentioned in many
reports and studies. Unfortunately, sani-
tation has not received a proper attention
it deserves. It seems there is still a lot tobe done before sanitation could win an
attention from the government, the pri-
vate sector and the community. Are we
going to remain an idle spectator and do
nothing? Everything will depend on all of
us. OM
A I N RE P O RTM
8 PercikJune 2004
AN IMPORTANT aspect in an ad-
vocacy is the participation of the commu-
nity and advocacy does not only cover
changes on program and policy (policy
dimension), but also (i) capacity buil-
ding, organizational skill and empower-
ment of civil society and its involvement
in decision making (civil society dimen-
sion), (ii) improve the legitimate civil
society and improve the accountability of
public institutions (democracy dimen-
sion); (iii) improve the poor community's
awareness of its right and obligation
(individual interests dimension).
IN ONE of the reports publishedby United Nations EnvironmentalProgram (UNEP) there is a specific
mention about several importantissues as the main requirements for asuccessful community level waste-water treatment system, namely (i)political commitment and domesticfinancing sources; (ii) water supplyand sanitation development manage-ment is not limited to provision of faci-lity but to also include hygiene beha-viour; (iii) environmental aspect repre-
sents an integral part of urban watersupply and sanitation management;(iv) setting of definite time frame and
clear indicator; (v) appropriate choiceof technology in order to get an effec-tive and efficient water use throughconsidering environmentally friendlytechnology alternative; (vi) applicationof demand responsive approach; (vii)participation of all stakeholders, andapplication of the principle of trans-parency in management and decisionmaking.
Requirement for a successful wastewater treatment
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What is WASH Campaign?
WASH campaign represents an effort
based on the initiative of several organi-
zations and individuals to make drinking
water supply, sanitation, and hygiene as a
part of common awareness. WASH
Campaign was launched at an interna-
tional conference 'Freshwater' in Decem-ber 2001 by Water Supply and Colla-
borative Council (WSSCC). The main
purpose is to improve awareness of the
importance of sanitation, drinking water,
and hygiene, and obtain a political and
social commitment from world leaders.
Why campaign is so important?
There have been a number of mea-
sures taken such as the declaration of
Water Decade but the number of popula-
tion who are without access to drinking
water supply and sanitation remains inthe staggering height. There are current-
ly 1,1 billion people who are without
access to water and 2,4 billion are without
access to improved sanitation. These fig-
ures will keep growing in line with world
population growth.
Many decision makers do not realize
that sanitation is not a dirty job. They do
not realize that provision of access to a
relatively cheap sanitation facility can
reduce half of the number of death tolls
caused by water and sanitation related
diseases. Even that drinking water, sani-
tation and hygiene is an entrance that
leads to poverty reduction measures has
not been a part of knowledge of the deci-
sion makers. One of the reasons is that
those who are in demand are the ones
with the weakest political status so that
the leaders could not gain any incentive
from handling their problem.
This condition makes several interest-
ed parties realize that water supply and
sanitation development is not simply a
physical construction work. A lot of other
activities need be done all of which are
aimed at an effort to improvement of
knowledge and awareness of the impor-
tance of sanitation. One of the activitiesis a structured and sustainable campaign
aimed at all stakeholders both at decision
maker and community levels.
What is the main theme of the
campaign?
There are four main themes to go with
the campaign:
Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hy-
giene can save human life.
Millions of people die each year from
dirty environment, and contaminated
water and food. Improved sanitationand hygiene condition can save many
lives and reduce the prevalence of dis-
eases.
Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygi-
ene for the Community: Priority is gi-
ven to Women and Children.
Women and children are more suscep-
tible to the effect of water scarcity, lack
of sanitation and poor hygiene condi-
tion.
Policy reform is important for the
improvement of water supply and sani-
tation service for the poor community.
The government, private sector and
international institutions must give pri-
ority and their resources for institu-
tional reform in order to make the prin-
ciple of good governance a reality.
Drinking Water Supply, Sanitation and
Hygiene represent the entrance to
poverty reduction.
The main attention in the provision of
basic services must be made as the main
agenda which is known as poverty reduc-
tion and sustainable development pro-
gram.
What can we do?
Some of the steps we could take are:
Establishment of inter-sector and in-
ter-agency partnership
We realize that drinking water supply
and sanitation management must be
undertaken through inter-sector ar-
rangement therefore the involvementof all stakeholders from the govern-
ment, private sector, university, NGO,
and professional association becomes a
prerequisite.
Promotion of institutional reform
In this case reform is understood as a
means to improve public accountabili-
ty, improve regulation, establishment
of effective monitoring effort in order
to arrive at a quality service.
Sharing of information and experience
Establishment of network for sharing
of information and experience amongstakeholders will improve the quality of
water supply and sanitation develop-
ment implementation.
Community mobilization and applica-
tion of community based approach
Using community group network and
direct involvement of the community in
the campaign process will help in
behavioural change process and impro-
vement of the community awareness
Collaboration with mass media
Mass media plays a significant role in in-
fluencing public opinion, and makes a
topic frequently presented to eventually
become a public agenda. Regular connec-
tion with mass media, press conference,
dissemination of information, public serv-
ice advertisement, training for reporters in
water supply and sanitation will become
an effective means.
(Summarized from WASH Campaign)
A I N RE P O RT
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All(WASH Campaign)
M
9PercikJune 2004
When all components within a community are still at a low level ofawareness on matters related to sanitation, it is necessary to
develop a strategic, effective and easily understood enlightenmentmeasure. One of the global campaign format and worth consi-
dering for replication is the WASH Campaign
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M
illennium Development
Goals (MDGs) have been
agreed by world leaders
for the purpose of future
development (for details
please refer to Percik ed. 3). From 8
goals, 18 targets and more than 40 indica-
tors, drinking water and sanitation is
directly related to Goal 7 sustainable
environmental management and Target
10 reduction by half in 2015 the propor-
tion of people without sustainable access
to safe drinking water and basic sanitati-
on service.
Although MDGs represent an agree-
ment approved by 189 countries of theworld, and its approval is indicated by
placement of signatures directly by 147
heads of state/government, but the goal
achieving is not merely the responsibility
of the central government but also to
include local governments, legislative
bodies, civil society, mass media, and all
other stakeholders.
The goals of MDGs are inter-related.
As an illustrat ion, goal 1 eradicate
extreme poverty and hunger is closely
related to improvement in water safe
drinking and basic sanitation . Achieve-
ment of water supply and sanitation tar-
get will greatly influence well-being of the
population.
Sanitation Target Setting
The proclamation of MDGs was made
in 2000, but one should recall that the
calculation to arrive at the target setting
took 1990 as the base year. Besides,
MGDs target for sanitation is stated in
terms of proportion and is not directly
referred to in an absolute number of peo-
ple.
Using the above assumption, the pro-
portion of Indonesian population who
had had access to basic sanitation in 1990was 30 percent. This means that in 1990
70 percent of the population are without
sanitation, therefore we come the figure
35 percents which represents the propor-
tion of population who must have service
by 2015. This further means that in 2015
the proportion of population who would
have improved sanitation service is 65
percent. This target is presented in 'Indo-
nesia Progress Report on the Millennium
Development Goals' which was published
in February 2004 and represents the offi-
cial document from the Indonesian go-
vernment.
In the meantime the National Action
Plan (NAP) on Wastewater Development
published in 2003 by Ministry of Settle-
ment and Regional Infrastructure Deve-
lopment, there are 2 scenarios. Scenario
1 uses the proportion of world population
who are without access to service in year
A I N RE P O RT
Observing MDGs Sanitation
M
10 PercikJune 2004
INDONESIAN TARGET OF SANITATION IN MDGs
year
Indonesian version NAP version MDGs version
SOURCE: AMPL DOCUMENTATION
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2000 as the base for calculation which
arrives at a figure 85,75 percent of popu-
lation to have access by 2015. Scenario 2
uses the proportion of population with
access to service in 2000 and the projec-
tion of Indonesian population in 2015.
This arrives at a figure 70,71 percent of
Indonesians who must have access to the
service in 2015.
The basic difference from the two cal-
culations lies in (i) the difference in base
year, NAP uses 2000 as base, (ii) NAP
bases its calculation on the proportion of
population who must have access using
population projection in 2015.Target setting is crucial for MDGs
achievement. It is up to the stakeholders
to agree on this discrepancy because it
will affect the strategy and MDGs achieve-
ment planning.
If we look back to the 1990s when the
access to basic sanitation was only at 30
percent, and compare it with the condi-
tion in 2000 in which the figure has risen
to 63,5 percent, we could be optimistic
that the MDGs sanitation target can be
reached. However, the target achieve-
ment might be meaningless when we tryto delve deeper into the facts behind the
figures.
As an illustration, one of the result of
survey on shallow wells in Jakarta it was
found out that 84 percent of the water
samples are contaminated with human
waste as indicated from the presence of
faecal coliform bacteria. This fact con-
firms the suspicion the basic sanitation
facilities especially those in the urban do
not function properly. The figure 63,5
percent only indicates the available facili-
ty, but the quality aspect has been over-
looked. As a result, the contamination
aspect is also overlooked. Thus when we
think we have reached the MDGs sanita-
tion target the contamination might likely
be a bigger problem. The contamination
issue must be dealt with properly if the
MDGs sanitation target achievement is to
be meaningful.
Diversity of condition in Indonesia
When setting the MDGs target above,
we were speaking at the national level
which represents the average regional
condition of Indonesia. Each region has
its own specific condition, sometimes wi-
dely different from the others. For exam-ple, NTB reached 41,2 percent when Ja-
karta was at 93,2 percent.
It is interesting to note how we will
reach the national target. Are we going to
focus on the national target without look-
ing into the targets of each of the individ-
ual regions? Or, each region is given
opportunity to set her own target based
on the regional capacity with respect to
the national target. There are other choic-
es to ponder with regard the target
achievement.
In connection to MDGs target, it
should also be borne in mind the Law
22/1999 on Regional Government has
clearly stipulated the relinquishment of
sanitation service management to the
respective regions, therefore the target
achievement will obviously depend on
regional preparedness. Up to this time
the echo on MDGs is still confined within
the realm of the central government. It is
therefore necessary to immediately take
proper action for socialization in the
regions, of course after the central go-
vernment has made itself ready with a
definite socialization strategy.
The role of WSS Working Group
It should be realized that MDGs
Indonesia document which was published
recently must be supplemented with
MDGs special document on drinking
water and sanitation which will serve as a
guideline for the stakeholders in MDGs
drinking water and sanitation target for
Indonesia.
The Water Supply and Sanitation
(WSS) Working Group is expected to play
an active role in facilitating for the publi-cation of such a document, which does
not only contain MDGs target setting, but
also the overall action plan and strategy
for achieving the target including moni-
toring and reporting aspects. A close coo-
peration with MDGs Indonesia Working
Group is unavoidable.
(OM from various sources)
A I N RE P O RTM
11PercikJune 2004
PROPORTION OF HOUSEHOLD WITH REASONABLE SANITATION
ACCESS BY PROVINSI (2002)West Nusa Tenggara
Gorontalo
Maluku
W. Sumatera
Papua
C. Sulawesi
Kalimantan
W. Java
W. Kalimantan
S. Kalimantan
Bangka Belitung
S.E. Sulawesi
Jambi
Banten
C. Java
S. Sulawesi
S. Sumatera
Indonesia
Bengkulu
E. Java
East Nusa Tenggara
N. Maluku
N. Sumatera
E. Kalimantan
Bali
N. Sulawesi
RiauLampung
Yogyakarta
Jakarta
Provinsi
PROPORTION
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C ould you highlight the sanita-tion condition in Indonesia?We will look back to the colonial time.
The Dutch government had given atten-
tion to sanitation. Whatever the system
was, centralized or localized. We can see
the inheritance in big towns. We can find
sewerage system in Jakarta, Yogyakarta,Bandung. But this was developed during
the colonial time. Naturally, there was a
discrimination. In the Dutch quarters
this was carefully maintained and pro-
tected while in that of the local communi-
ty this was not so. After independence,
apparently this has missed the attention.
We did more on road building, drinking
water supply, and so on. During the Wa-
ter Decade in 1981-90 we were startled,
awakened, so that within the time lapse
and 5 years after there was a significant
sanitation development in line with the
increase in GNP. When the economic cri-
sis knocked us over we seemingly fell
asleep again and concentrate ourselves
with the economic, political and social
crisis, although some sanitation develop-
ment works were still continuing such as
Denpasar sewerage, Surakarta sewerage.
But this is not a priority. When MDGs
were proclaimed we were shocked again.
But the condition was not as favourable
as it was during the decades 1970 - 80s.
During that time the economy was in an
excellent condition. There was a lot of
money.
Presently we are speaking a lot about
community based sanitation system. And
with this spirit we will re-develop envi-
ronmental sanitation in Indonesia which
has been lagging far behind our neigh-
bouring countries such as Malaysia which
started much later than we, in 1980s.
Environmental issues are becoming more
and more complex which makes it moredifficult to deal with. I think we have to
exert more effort than we did in the
1980s. But the present situation doesn't
warrant for it.
What is the main constraint?
From my own experience and from
observing statistical figures the indicators
for community health include infant mor-
tality rate, life expectancy, water borne
diseases and their prevention are impro-
NTE RVIE W
Ir. Susmono
"Sanitation Is MoreImportant Than Electricity"
I
12 PercikJune 2004
The mesh entangling sanitation development in Indonesia is way from loosening.
Various efforts have been taken by the government to deal with this problem, but the
result has not been what is expected. As time proceeds and population increase new
constraints continue to crop up one after the other. This can only be solved if all the
stakeholders including the community work hand in hand to find the best solution
because sanitation is not an issue that stands by itself. This sector must be regarded
as government priority since the success in handling sanitation can guarantee the
health of the community. Ir. Susmono is one of those who have a keen interest and
care in dealing with this sector. He happens to be an official of the Ministry ofSettlement and Regional Infrastructures and a member of WSS Working Group.
In order to shed a light on the sanitation condition in Indonesia and all its details
Percik interviewed him some time ago. Here are the highlights:
CARICATURE BY RUDI KOSASIH
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ving although we do not handle sanitation
in a proper manner. This means that each
individual is handling these in his own
way. I feel, as once I used to work togeth-
er with the program at village level to edu-
cate women on various aspect of family
welfare (PKK), the role of housewives is
quite significant in improving the figures.
Why? Because, their knowledge is steadi-
ly improving. Many printed materials ca-
me to their hands and they read them. It
is this knowledge that indirectly helps
them to have a toilet built. It is not the
national movement that motivates them.
This means that if it is complemented
with the national movement which we ha-ve started in 1990s, the result probably
will be better. Otherwise it will be de-
creasing or at the most it will remain as it
is today.
To boost the development what
constraint is to be faced?
Improvement of income. It is quite
obvious that people with very low income
they do nt care about sanitation. As their
income improves and they become better
knowledgeable and start thinking, but in
the beginning it is self protection. What isimportant one's own good, home and
immediate surrounding. Outside that it is
none of his business.
While those who live from hand to
mouth, their whole effort is to find food.
For that purpose road and market are pri-
orities. Drinking water to follow next. As
for defecating, it can be done anywhere.
From the data I come up with, a na-
tion with a good sanitation after it reach-
es USD2.000 GNP. Below USD1.000 sa-
nitation is not a subject to be discussed, it
is considered as something not worth
talking about and in the government it is
given a very low budget allocation. So if
you want to deal with sanitation, first do
something about income and education.
In addition we need health service, such
as local government clinic (puskesmas).
In short, speaking of sanitation there are
4 influencing factors to take into consid-
eration: environment, heath infrastruc-
ture, individual genetic characteristic,
and cultural habit.
What steps does Ministry of
Settlement & Regional Infrastruc-
ture take to improve sanitation con-
dition in Indonesia?
We are preparing National ActionPlan, though it has discussed only twice
and this year it is undergoing revision.
However, we have been collecting data or
consolidating during 1990 up to 2000.
The National Action Plan has completed
up to final draft. This year it will be bro-
ught to discussion with colleagues at the
regions, Bappenas, and others in order to
reach an agreement from all by the end of
the year. If we could arrive at an agree-
ment and together with the Law on Water
Resources and Government Regulation
on Drinking Water and Sanitation which
is said are to be combined, all of it will
become a national priority and each
province will prepare its local regulation
based on the central guideline. We are
currently waiting for Government Regu-
lation which is now in process. In the
meantime, we are also conducting social-
ization of National Action Plan on waste-
water management to the provinces
What is the linkage between Na-
tional Action Plan with MDGs?
As benchmark we refer to MDGs. We try
to translate the MDGs target into our goal.
Is MDGs sanitation target realistic?
In the document there is a mention ofadequate sanitation. This term can be bro-
ught up or down. But in Surabaya Mrs. Erna
Witoelar herself said something else. She
changed it into basic sanitation. With basic
sanitation, we think we can do it. But with
adequate sanitation, it will be difficult.
What is the difference?
Basic sanitation intends to protect hu-
man being, while in adequate sanitation
there is additionally environmental factor
to be considered. Speaking of environ-
ment implies a high budget requirement.
The net calculation is the adequate. What
result we get by the end of the year, we
don't know yet. As for basic sanitation we
can go with large scale promotion and we
could expect 80 percent of urban popula-
tion will have access to toilet of some
kind. But don't ask what will happen to
the rivers.
NTE RVIE WI
13PercikJune 2004
SOURCE: MUJIYANTO
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What do you think about NGO
facilitated community based sanita-
tion management?
I have done it 20 years ago during the
Water and Sanitation Decade. But my
target groups then were the "arisan" gro-
up, dasawisma. They were doing quite
well, but later there was a reorganization
and shifting of responsibility, I have no
information what has happened with
them. What is called now NGO is actual-
ly not a new thing to us. What the NGOs
are doing are actually the same old thing.
What I noticed in the field are fresh wrap-
pings of an old thing. It is apparent that
when the community is better enlight-ened they are willing to share and they
care. Once again, the emphasis is on en-
lightenment. Therefore I am quite plea-
sed to see that they clad it in a new wrap-
ping.
What other approaches are the-
re beside community based mana-
gement?
If we are speaking of sanitation, this
can be divided into two categories. One
belongs to community's responsibility
and the other that of the government. Wecannot rely entirely on the community.
That is where the institutionally based
comes in.
Whether both of
them are contained
in the National
Action Plan?
Both of them are.
But what is presently
being handled is the
community based. And
motivating the commu-
nity will need more
than just dissemina-
tion, socialization,
advocacy, and so on,
but also to include leg-
islation. This will be
deduced from law on
natural resources and
environment. As we all know there are
people who are capable, but not willing.
Which one has a higher priority,
the community based or the institu-
tionally based?
Must be developed in a symbiotic
relationship, they are not just moving
side by side. Otherwise, they won't do.
The government cannot walk alone. Both
must be interconnected into one system.
How to sew it, we will see later. In
National Action Plan we haven't come to
such a detail. It is different from solid
wastes where we have completed to the
details. With wastewater we are in shortof data, therefore we have to use assump-
tion and it is time consuming. That is
why we have done only up to the main
points. Hopefully by the end of the year
we can finish with the details.
The management of community
based sanitation development
seems partial. How can we make it
more holistic?
Admittedly not yet. Take for instance,
there is a pilot project in a certain town.
But after the project is over, both thecommunity and the local government
remain silent. This of course needs a
push to make them expand it. If they
don't move, well, perhaps there is a need
for a legislation. It happens quite often.
What is the influencing factor?
Because sanitation is not a priority.
Therefore it has never been considered as
having any significance. If something
new happened such as an outbreak of
muntaber (diarrhoea and vomiting) we
will then remember something. But
afterwards it is forgotten again. It hap-
pens time and again. Perhaps other sec-
tors are more important. For me, sanita-
tion is more important than electricity.
In a town number one is road, number
two water supply, third sanitation, then
come the others, electricity, telephone.On the contrary, now there are those who
have a hand phone but having no toilet.
How can the knowledge of the
community be improved?
We will start with inserting it into
school curriculum, then into the printed
materials for women to read. We do pro-
motion activity, campaigning. But do we
have someone who is capable and willing
to motivate a campaign movement? If
not, it will be difficult because it is from
there that we expect a behavioural changeto take place.
Which target community should
be prioritized, urban or rural?
I think it does not make
any difference. Recorded
access to sanitation in the
towns is approximately 89
percent. But the number of
population who has an accept-
able disposal facility is only
about 70 percent. In the vil-
lages the recorded number of
access is 63 percent. Here the
coverage of disposal facility is
something around 35 percent.
Villagers prefer to defecate in
rivers, gardens or fields be-
cause they have enough space.
For townspeople this is not
possible. (MJ)
NTE RVIE WI
14 PercikJune 2004
SOURCE: OSWAR MUNGKASA
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T
he conventional sanitation tech-
nology is based on the flow from
flush toilet, drainage conveyance,
treatment installation, and disposal. To
some environmentalists this technology
tends to cause environmental pollution.
There is an indication that the available
system (flush toilet and wastewater treat-
ment) is not a solution but rather it is a
part of the environmental problem.
In conventional approach sanitation
means adding nutriments into the envi-
ronment and disrupting the nutriment
cycle. The basic concept which says that
human excrement is a non useful waste is
misleading. Such an approach has causeda new pollution problem. In nature noth-
ing is called waste, each product of life is
used as raw material for the others.
Recycling of human excrement and urine
through sanitation process and return it
to the soil to recover the natural cycle of
materials is disrupted by the existing san-
itation practice.
Starting from this concept, it is
deemed necessary to find an alternative
solution that takes into consideration the
ecological aspect. One of the alternatives
is called ecological sanitation, abbreviat-ed ECOSAN. This terminology means an
economically and ecologically sustainable
sanitation system.
ECOSAN does not refer to any specif-
ic technology but rather it refers to all
technologies and international regula-
tions in dealing with water scarcity and
sanitation issues in a better way. ECO-
SAN includes a closed loop wastewater
treatment system directed towards reuse
of water and nutriment and reduction of
clean water consumption.
The environmental sanitation pre-
sently being practiced is actually based on
the concept of keeping the environment
clean, safe and free from contamination.
This includes wastewater treatment and
prevention of disease. In reality, howev-
er, it turns out to cause environmental
pollution. ECOSAN, on the other hand, is
based on the recycling principle. This
means maintaining the ecological cycle in
a closed sanitation loop. Besides it saves
energy consumption through the applica-
tion of natural processes.Ecological sanitation is a cycle, or a
closed loop system that processes human
excrement as a resource. In this system
human excrement is processed in situ
until it is free from pathogenic organisms.
Then the sanitized waste is recycled by
applying for agricultural purposes. The
main features of ecological sanitation are
(i) prevention and pollution and preva-
lence of diseases caused by contamina-
tion from human waste; (ii) processing of
human waste as a resource rather than as
useless waste; (iii) recovery and recyclingof nutriments.
ECOSAN is based on traditional sci-
ence in the form recycling and compost-
ing of waste materials, but it is combined
with modern science and the use of flush
toilet.
The principle of ECOSAN is not new,
it has been practiced in East Asia for hun-
dreds of years even in China it has been
practiced since thousands of years ago. It
is important to note that this system is
not meant as a simple alternative just for
the sake of the poor. ECOSAN principle
is applicable in a wide variety of social
economic conditions and in every nation.
In many countries the application of
farm manure from human excrement is a
rare practice. The more human excre-
ment disposed of into rivers the more is
the degree of environmental pollution. It
is therefore recommendable to using the
closed loop system in order to prevent
bacterial or virus contamination and pro-
duction of farm manure.
If ECOSAN could be adopted in a largescale, soil water, rivers, lakes, and seas are
protected from human waste contamina-
tion. Less water is used. The farmers use
less inorganic fertilizers. Prolonged use of
inorganic fertilizers has been the contributor
of environmental degradation.
ECOSAN concept is supporting the
MDGs target achievement. The applica-
tion of ECOSAN can significantly reduce
water consumption so that more could
have access to water. However, we must
realize that many challenges are awaiting
before ECOSAN could be brought into themainstream of sanitation management,
among others (i) rejection to new idea
because one is used to an old practice; (ii)
ECOSAN is a decentralized system so that
the cost is borne by the user; as an exam-
ple, the user must set aside some time to
handle his own waste; (iii) financially the
application of ECOSAN is a burden espe-
cially in locations where a conventional
system has been used because one has to
consider the amount investment that has
been put into the existing system.
The application of ecological sanitation
concept in Indonesia is not impossible.
But, of course, we need a thorough study
before we could determine the advantages
derived from its application. This is a mat-
ter of choice. Whether this system could
become one of the choices in our communi-
ty? This is indeed a tickling question.
(OM from various sources)
RTICLE
Ecological Sanitation
A
15PercikJune 2004
THE DISADVANTAGES OF THE CONVENTIONAL SANITATION SYSTEMUncontrolled disposal of more than 90 percent of world wastewater
A large amount of clean water is needed to flush off the wasteNeeds a large amount of investment, O&M costs, and energy
THE ADVANTAGES OF ECOLOGICAL SANITATIONQuality improvement of community health through minimizing the mixing ofhuman excrement with waterNatural resources conservation through less water consumption, minimizingwater pollutionMaintain soil fertility and increase agricultural productivityWastewater is not disposed of but rather it is reused
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Unlike in Indonesia, where sanita-
tion development is not properly
documented, in other countries
the document pertaining to sanitation is
well kept so that we could pick some les-
sons out of it.
Lessons from foreign countries can,
for example be obtained from various so-
urces among others Learning What
Works for Sanitation. Revisiting Sanita-
tion Successes in Cambodia, WSP-EAP,
2002; Sanitation and Hygiene Promotionin Lao PDR, WSP-EAP, 2000. However,
documents about experience in Indonesia
can also be found in Myth vs. Reality in
Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion, WSP-
EAP, 2000 and Achieving Sustained
Sanitation for the Poor, WSP-EAP, 2001.
The following are several facts and
lessons learned from Indonesia as well
Cambodia and Laos as summarized from
the above documents:
Stimulating Factors
From the experience in Cambodia,Vietnam and Indonesia, there are several
factors known as stimulating the demand
for toilet, namely (i) an experience in see-
ing and using a toilet in some other place,
such as in town or at a neighbour's; (ii)
availability of and ease in obtaining con-
struction materials, availability of experi-
enced construction workers; (iii) decreas-
ing of woodlands, gardens, rice fields
areas as a traditional place for defecating;
(iv) a better knowledge in hygienic life;
(v) social status; (vi) improvement in wel-
fare.
Any of the above factors is not work-
ing alone but they tend to work together
in stimulating the demand for a toilet.
Identifying all the factors is one of the
keys to motivating the community in
using toilet.
Unlike stimulating factor, the inhibi-
ting factors of Cambodia, Vietnam and
Indonesia indicate a national variation.
In the three nations the dominant inhibit-
ing factor is low financial capacity of the
community. The poor tend to choose to
pay in kind (labour or material). Other
inhibiting factors are, (i) lack of, even it
tends to be predetermined, informed
choice. The facilities offered to the com-
munity are produced in far away places
using a material that is difficult to find at
the locality. In Indonesia and in Vietnam
the design and technology that are con-
trary to the local practice add to the
inhibiting list. The community uses
human waste to feed animal and fish-
pond, thus a design which makes extrac-
tion of excrement difficult will certainly
be rejected; (ii) lack of communication
with the community about the advan-tages and disadvantages of having a toi-
let; (iii) water scarcity or water source is
too far away from the toilet; (iv) previous
negative experience in relation to a toilet.
As an example, dirty water flaring out
from a toilet. Lack of technical assistance
being one of the reasons;
Change in behaviour
From a population survey in Cam-
bodia, it was revealed that although most
of the people own a toilet but this does
not necessarily change their behaviour.This is indicated from the fact that the
community is still defecating anywhere
RTICLEA
16 PercikJune 2004
A SURVEY to households in the vil-
lages of the Philippines reveals the
main reasons why a toilet is neces-
sary. In order of importance they are
as the following: (i) reducing the
swarming of flies; (ii) cleaner envi-
ronment; (iii) privacy; (iv) prevent
embarrassment when there is a
guest; (v) reducing prevalence of di-
sease. The list indicates that
hygiene reasons are less important
than considerations for pride, com-
fort, and social status. (WHO)
Why does the communityneed a toilet?
Lessons Learned FromSanitation Development
Construction of a toilet
does not necessarily
change hygiene behaviour.
Some practical
considerations are still
shedding a dominant hue
into the daily habit.
Though toilet is
already there.
STIMULATING FACTORS CAMBODIA VIETNAM INDONESIA
Increased awareness
Availability of material & skilled worker
Social status
Lessening in open space areas
Welfare status
Government promotion
Availability of land space
Availability of technology choices
Availability of micro credit
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they feel comfortable. When in the rice
field they defecate among the paddy, in
spite of each of them has built a toilet at
home. When comes the season when wa-
ter is difficult to get they go to defecate
near the water source. Practicality is mo-
re dominant than community health rela-
ted consideration.
Acceleration in behavioural change
depends on (i) availability in choice of de-
sign and the appropriate cost in accordan-
ce with life style, capacity of the commu-
nity, and availability of water; (ii) avail-
ability of materials and skilled workers.
AdvantagesFrom the result of surveys it was con-
cluded that the communities in the three
countries gain advantages from the avail-
ability of toilet in several different ways.
The most important being cleanliness
around their homes and freedom from
stench odours. Then follows comfort,
such as saving time, easy access. Next co-
me safety, prevention of disease and
hygiene behaviour, privacy and pride,
economic gain (compost, cost saving) and
others.
Lessons learned
Based on the above facts some impli-
cations can be suggested as the following:
Demand will increase if the communi-
ty has for itself seen and experienced the
advantages. A negative experience will
grossly reduce the demand. Provision of a
suitable information and intensive sociali-zation will stimulate the growth of interest
in the community. Direct personal ap-
proach can be very effective, so that em-
ployment of local native as motivator or
facilitator should be recommended.
The construction of a toilet does not
necessarily change hygiene behaviour.
Practicality is more dominant in influen-
cing their daily habit. In spite a toilet is
ready for use at home they still go any-
where they feel comfortable to defecate
(such as in the rice field when they hap-
pen to be there).
The communities consider that the
advantages gained from having a toilet is
more from the aspects of environmental
cleanliness, safety and comfort. The as-
pects of prevention of disease, reducing
flies and hygiene are less important. A
sanitation promotion strategy must be
based on introducing the community withthe advantages gained from having a toi-
let. It is recommendable to avoid using
tailor made promotion format, but rather
make adjustments in accordance with the
local condition.
The community should be offered with
as many choices as possible, design, cost
and payment system. This will help to
generate more interests especially from
the poor class. A specific strategy must be
applied to attract the poor such as
through a non costly design, payment in
installments over an extended period,
common use of a toilet, or a micro credit
scheme for toilet construction.
The demand for a toilet is highly influ-
enced by the community habit. Changing
habit takes a long period of time. Sani-
tation program implementation should be
set for a longer period of time than that
for other programs. (OM)
RTICLEA
17PercikJune 2004
SANITATION PRACTICEIN AFRICA
Toilet is built outside the house, so at
night one would defecate in a barrel to
be emptied the next morning
Another way is by "flying toilet". The
faeces is put into a plastic bag and then
dump it somewhere (garbage bin, river,
garden).
A Environmental cleanlinessB ComfortC Prevention of diseaseD Economic Gain
E SafetyF PrivacyG Others
THE ADVANTAGES OF HAVING A TOILETBASED
ON THE PERCEPTION OF THE COMMUNITIES OF CAMBODIA,
VIETNAM AND INDONESIA
INHIBITING FACTORS CAMBODIA VIETNAM INDONESIA
Capacity of the community
Choice of design and technology
Negative experience
Scarcity of water
Lack of socialization
Lack of land space
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It is noticeable that sustainability
and effective use of a water supply
facility has won a major attention
from the promoting institutions for the
water supply development for the poor,
especially those in the villages. In several
activities, WSP-EAP (an institution under
the World Bank which handles water and
sanitation) frequently emphasizes the
importance of sustainability and effective
use of a water supply system.A conceptual scheme on sustainable
water supply was later becoming very po-
pular and frequently brought forward to a
training and a workshop. The scheme is
visualized as a water supply sustainability
pentagon. There are five variables, each
one of them is systemically inter-related
with the others; those are institutional,
financial, environmental, technological
and socio-cultural aspects.
Even with a simple general reasoning
the sustainability conceptual scheme with
its five variables is easily understood andaccepted. However, will the conceptual
scheme be applicable to the actual condi-
tion of community in which the water
supply service is to be developed? In
other words, whether the five variables do
indeed determine the sustainability of a
water supply service facility universally,
regardless of time and place, or will it be
applicable only at a certain condition? Is
there any study to test the sophistication
of this model?
Sustainability Variables of Water
Supply Facility
There is a considerable number of
studies have been done on water supply.
One of them is Flores Revisited: Assess-
ment of Selected Site in Flores, on the ini-
tiative of WASPOLA and conducted by
the Pradipta Paramitha Foundation. The
main information produced consists of
sustainable water supply service, positive
and negative aspects influencing water
supply service, effective use of water sup-
ply service, community participation
level, policy support, technology appro-
priateness, and others.
Regarding sustainability of waterservice, the determining variables, accor-
ding to the findings of this study, are in
general institutional and financial. All
water supply services which are function-
ing well are located in a community who
cares to maintain the facility through
establishment of a management team
responsible for managing the operation
and maintenance of the facility, including
collection of monthly contribution. In
terms of statistical measurement, the
strength of relation between institutional
activity and willingness to contribute re-gularly with sustainability-measured with
spearman rho correlation-are 0,752 and
0,514 respectively. There is also a strong
tie between management institution with
monthly contribution. The spearman rho
correlation coefficient between both vari-
ables is 0.63.
Fund availability is prerequisite for
sustainability of the facility, especially for
the procurement of supplies for mainte-
nance and repairs, and for system expan-
sion including home connection. In Flo-
res Timur, the capacity of users for
monthly contribution is quite limited. In
Rawabeling village, for instance, they can
only pay Rp200 per capita per month.
This means a family of seven will only pay
Rp1.400 per month. Because of such a
small contribution, there is only very li-
mited capacity for expansion and impro-
ving level of service. They will not be
able, even for a small repair they do not
have enough fund.
In a study conducted in 50 villages, it
was also revealed that sustainability is
correlated with socio-cultural variable,
but this is only true as it relates to the
poor class of the community. As the stu-
dy finds out, for the poor the higher the
level of water sufficiency the higher is the
sustainability of the service. This indica-
tes that the poor play a significant role inthe maintenance of the facility. This is
quite logic, because it is the poor who will
suffer most when there is a water short-
age, they won't be able to individually ful-
fill their own need.
Effect upon community well-being
In general, the villages with a facility
used to be a place where water is always
in short quantity, and water taking for
daily consumption is a laborious job
which consumes a lot of time and ener-
gy.From this study in Flores it was
revealed that 202 user groups from 52
sample communities feel strongly the
benefit of a water supply facility. Of all
the benefits the most frequently men-
tioned is "nearer to take water from."
Since the distance is shorter, there is
consequently a change in their water
related daily habit and a development of
derivative benefits, directly as well as
indirectly, which was unimaginable
before.
The benefits may be felt both by the
rich as well as the poor, men or women.
Consistently women-rich and poor-feel a
more benefit than do their men (rich and
poor). This is probably because women
have more direct concern in the fulfill-
ment of the need of their families for
water. For a clearer picture please see the
following table:
RTICLE
Drinking Water Service:
Sustainability and Its Effect
Upon Community Well-Being
A
18 PercikJune 2004
ByAlma Arief1)
and Hery Widjanarko 2)
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The above table indicates only the
benefit of water supply, felt by all commu-
nity groups in study sites. The casuistic
field findings are not included here, such
as for instance a certain location the bene-
fit includes drinking water for cattle, mop-
ping tile floor, brick baking, cement mi-
xing for concrete house, watering veg-
etable gard