Rainwater Harvesting Indonesia

Rainwater Harvesting Project in Lombok Primary Schools

In the rural regions of Lombok, access to clean drinking water is scarce. In the low-lying coastal regions groundwater is usually brackish or contaminated by pollutants from activities such as gold mining. Up in the hills, availability of drinking water is also extremely limited as the water table is so low it cannot be accessed through wells. Rivers and creeks are often contaminated due to the lack of improved sanitation, so villagers who are unable to afford imported drinking water are commonly exposed to the many health risks associated with contaminated water sources.

Early in 2011, Live & Learn won funding from the Japan Water Forum to begin addressing this issue. On the island of Lombok, there is significant wet season, so the installation of rainwater tanks is the obvious solution. Water tanks are being installed in five schools in two areas of Lombok, each of which are already running sanitation marketing projects with Live & Learn. Currently none of the schools have access to drinking water so the installation of these five water tanks will provide drinking water to approximately 1000 students and teachers. Local builders have been trained in the building of water tanks, so the funding is used not only to provide access to drinking water, but to expand the skill set of local people.

Following the completion of the tanks at each school, Live & Learn deliver an education program called 'Hari Hujan' (Rainy Days). The program is delivered over two days and covers modules on how the rainwater tanks work, how to look after them, how to conserve water, the importance of hand-washing and finishes with a module on soap-making techniques, using natural ingredients from the Ritha Nut, commonly known as the ‘soap nut tree’. The plant is native to Asia and contains natural anti-bacterial properties. Each school is given ritha nut saplings to plant, which after a few years, will provide a sustainable way to produce soap for hand-washing.

This project is due to be completed by the end of March, 2012.