The water demands of tourism and high population and rising sea levels have caused a groundwater crisis in some parts of Indonesia, and authorities have turned to Murdoch University for solutions.

Dr Martin Anda, an environmental engineering researcher from Murdoch University, is leading a team collaborating with Indonesian scientists in sustainable water technology.

“Tourism infrastructures consume as much as 3 million litres of groundwater per day, which has caused salt water to travel inland for up to a kilometre, dried up some rivers and lowered the water level in Buyan Lake.

“As well as the demands of tourism, agriculture has had a serious impact on the water cycle and groundwater recharge, and a drying climate trend has affected the shoreline and seen sea levels rise along coast. These impacts are are also being studied in the Yogyakarta case study.”

“It was apparent that conventional techniques of surface water capture and groundwater abstraction were not going to provide the country with a secure supply of water for agriculture and safe consumption in the future.

“In Australia this has been a problem that we have been grappling with for many years, and alongside the good work of local scientists and water engineers we are sharing some potential ways to overcome the issue.”

Australia lends a hand

Funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Murdoch team is developing local expertise within the national science and technology transfer organisation Badan Pengkajian dan Penerapan Teknologi (BPPT) and INSTIPER Agricultural University in Yogyakarta.

Over the past few months, delegates from both institutions visited Murdoch University to identify the major causes for the groundwater crisis, and to establish a countermeasure that could provide a solution to the issue at a number of sites. Managed aquifer recharge with rainwater harvesting or wastewater recycling with treatment and pumping methods using solar energy are being considered.

A team from Murdoch University, along with Australian companies Managed Recharge, Aquaener and Moerk Water Solutions has also traveled to Indonesia to assess potential sites to test the technology.

“We established that rising levels of saltwater in the groundwater supply was a major issue that needed to be tackled, and identified Managed Aquifer Recharge after the initial workshop in Australia,” Dr Anda said.

“This technology has been used in Adelaide for many years, and has recently been implemented in Beenyup-Gnangara with treated wastewater and Kalamunda with stormwater harvesting in Perth.”

Dr Anda was in Indonesia, visiting focus spots including Pekalongan in Java and Gianyar and Nusa Lembongan in Bali to share knowledge with local authorities on how to install the technology.