Investigating groundwater selfsupply as a safely managed water service for households in urban Indonesia: Water quality, management and monitoring
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2024
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Self-supply is a widespread response by households to inadequate public water supply. In urban Indonesia, over 40 million people rely on groundwater self-supply for drinking. Self-supply is invested in and managed by an individual household, accessible on-premises, unregulated, and overlooked in policy and regulations. The extent to which self-supply provides a safely managed water service remains unclear. This PhD thesis aims to address the knowledge gap concerning the safety of household self-supply in the Indonesian cities of Bekasi and Metro, using a social-ecological system approach as a conceptual framework and employing quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods.
To better understand groundwater self-supply in low- and middle-income countries globally, a systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted. The results revealed that self-supply is commonly contaminated with faecal indicator bacteria and is significantly more likely to be contaminated than piped supply.
To investigate the safety of groundwater self-supply and its faecal contamination risks in urban Indonesia, water quality monitoring campaigns were conducted in Bekasi and Metro
alongside household surveys and sanitary inspections. Findings indicated that self-supply commonly contained Escherichia coli bacteria, with contamination risks related to
infrastructure, proximity to sanitation systems and wealth. Furthermore, the association between seasonality and faecal contamination of self-supply was investigated, demonstrating mixed results.
To understand the use and management of self-supply by households in urban Indonesia, a mixed-methods approach was used. While most households preferred groundwater self-supply, they also relied on alternative water sources to supplement inadequate supply, although trust in these alternatives was low. Boiling water from self-supply was a common household treatment practice, however, the labour involved was tiring for some. Gendered intra-household dynamics varied across households, but showed cooperation between women and men and certain clearly defined roles in terms of responsibilities and decision-making.
Monitoring water service delivery is essential, however there is little guidance on best monitoring practices for self-supply. Therefore, a participatory citizen approach was trialled
and evaluated, involving a six-month household-led microbial water quality testing process accompanied by pre- and post-monitoring surveys. This approach provided reliable water
quality results and increased awareness of water quality; however, nearly half of the households dropped out of the monitoring and increased awareness did not translate into
actions that improved water quality within the study period.
In conclusion, the thesis addresses important gaps in the understanding of self-supply and provides important evidence for developing differentiated strategies to support, regulate and monitor self-supply towards a safely managed water service.
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