Social Affairs Minister Risma Installs Clean Water Treatment Plants to Prevent Leprosy Transmission

BARITO KUALA (June 12, 2024) - Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini installed clean water treatment plants in four sub-districts in Barito Kuala Regency. The construction of clean water treatment plants is carried out to help the community access the availability of clean water and prevent leprosy transmission.

The availability of clean water is one of the factors that can break the chain of transmission of the bacteria that cause leprosy. The quality of the living environment must be improved to prevent the spread of leprosy bacteria, one of which is clean water facilities. “So, we assist clean water, and you do not use unclean water anymore so that there is no transmission to others,” explained Social Affairs Minister Risma on Tuesday (11/6) when greeting residents in Sungai Pitung Village, Barito Kuala Regency, South Kalimantan.

In addition, Social Affairs Minister Risma also conveyed her breakthrough idea to improve the clean water treatment plant into a decontamination tool for the bacteria that cause leprosy. “I am thinking about how to kill the bacteria that cause leprosy through the processing of this clean water installation,” added Risma.

Barito Kuala is one of the regencies in South Kalimantan Province with the regional characteristics of most of its villages located in swamp/peat areas. To meet the needs of bathing, washing, and toilet (MCK), water consumption is taken from small rivers with poor water quality so it is not suitable for consumption. Usually, the local community uses PDAM water for consumption. Still, unfortunately, not all areas have been touched by PDAM installations, so the community is forced to buy water at a low price. “For drinking and cooking, those who can afford it usually buy tap water for Rp3,000 per jerry can. Usually, one family needs three jerry cans per day. But for those who can't afford it, they use alum-treated river water for drinking and cooking,” explained Fahmi, Head of Sungai Pitung Village.

The Ministry of Social Affairs installed a clean water treatment plant with a total capacity of 5,500 liters. There are 4 water reservoirs used to process river water into clean water. This installation can treat 1 liter of water per second with a total production of water suitable for consumption of 6,000 liters per day. That much water is enough to meet the needs of 200 families. The clean water installation also complements the integration of the Integrated Prosperous House (RST) assistance built by the Ministry of Social Affairs.

In the framework of Social Service in Barito Kuala Regency, the Ministry of Social Affairs installed clean water processing installations spread across four sub-districts, namely Alalak District, Barambai District, Bakumpai District, and Tabukan District. Not only does it have a large capacity, but this clean water installation is also equipped with solar cells with a capacity of 3,600 watts peak, and later more devices will be added with a total capacity of 9,000 watts peak. This step was taken by Social Affairs Minister Risma so that people do not need to spend money to pay for electricity because clean water processing uses solar electricity.