Development of desalination technology using reverse osmosis membrane for the provision of clean water in DKI Jakarta

Abstract

Ensuring the availability of water in a future is a primary concern of government in the world nowadays. As one of the countries involved in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) commitment, Indonesia required drafting development programs, one of which is to ensure the availability of clean water. The amount of clean water available is not proportional to the needs of the community as the population increases. As an example, Jakarta is still heavily dependent on groundwater and river water that heavily polluted by residents’ wastes. Due to the lack provision of clean water, one of the alternatives emerged is to get clean water through the desalination process using Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane. Reverse osmosis development can be an opportunity for overcoming the crisis of water supply. The development including advanced membrane materials, modules and process design, and energy recovery will reduce the cost burden that will draw attention to its commercial applications. Currently, the government has designed water supply fulfilment using the technology but is constrained by several factors such as expensive technology installation cost, energy consumption and the problem of membrane treatment.