National Water Quality Rate Declines in 2021: Ministry

Tuesday, 21 December 2021 – 18:13 GMT+7
KLHK's acting director general of pollution and environmental damage control, Sigit Reliantoro (right), and other KLHK officials / Credit: KLHK

jpnn.com, JAKARTA - The national water quality rate has declined in 2021, the Environment and Forestry Ministry (KLHK) has reported recently.

The environmental quality index (IKLH) has improved, but the water quality index (IKA) has not, according to KLHK's acting director general of pollution and environmental damage control, Sigit Reliantoro.

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The national IKA in 2021 was at 53.33, a decrease by 0.2 points from 2020. It did not reach the target of 55.20.

Meanwhile, the national IKA in 2021 increased by 1.16 points, which was influenced by the improvement of the air and sea water quality index.

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"One of the causes of the low water quality in Indonesia is that there are still many water sources with BOD [biological oxygen demand] and E.Coli levels," said Sigit, Tuesday (21/12).

The low quality of water shows that household waste has not been managed properly.

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"Efforts to accelerate sanitation improvements are very urgent," added Sigit.

Even so, he revealed that 14 provinces in Indonesia were able to achieve the IKA target, while the other 20 provinces were not. (mcr9/mcr20/jpnn)

This news has been broadcast on JPNN.com with the title: KLHK Ungkap Alasan Indeks Kualitas Air Nasional Menurun