QUALITY OF REFILLED DRINKING WATER IN SURABAYA CITY
ABSTRACT: Since municipal
drinking water is frequently in unsafe condition and the price of mineralized
water is getting more expensive, development of refilled drinking water is
welcomed among middle to lower income society of Surabaya city. Therefore the
objective of this study was to study whether quality of refilled drinking water
in Surabaya city meet standard criteria of drinking water quality according to
Decree of Health Minister of Republic of Indonesia (Kepmenkes) No.
907/Menkes/SK/VII/2002. This study was designed as a field observational study
conducted cross-sectional among refilled drinking water stands (depots) in
Surabaya city with descriptive analysis. Data gathering was carried out in the
month of July 2004. Sample size was determined purposively by taking 1 refilled
drinking water sample from the stand (depot) of each district in Surabaya city.
Therefore the sample size was 31 samples of refilled drinking water. Samples
were analyzed at Laboratory of Balai Teknik Kesehatan Lingkungan (BTKL)
Surabaya for physical quality i.e. turbidity, chemical quality i.e. acidity
(pH) and total dissolved solids (TDS), and bacteriological quality i.e. total
Coliform bacteria. The results showed that all 31 samples of refilled drinking
water met standard criteria of The Kepmenkes for turbidity and total dissolved solids (TDS)
parameters. However, 1 (3,23 %) out of 31 samples did not meet standard
criteria of The Kepmenkes for acidity level (pH) parameter; and 7 (22,58 %) out
of those samples did not meet standard criteria of The Kepmenkes for total
Coliform bacteria parameter. It is concluded that refilled drinking water in
Surabaya has not met standard criteria of drinking water as stated in The
Kepmenkes since 22,58 % of samples are contaminated by Coliform bacteria. It is
recommended to consumers to boil refilled drinking water before consumed.
Surabaya’s Department of Health has to pay more attention and to increase
activity in refilled drinking water monitoring to prevent public from suffering
water borne diseases. It is suggested to
consumers, to be safe, to boil this water before drinking to avoid health
problem.
Keywords: Refilled drinking
water, quality, Kepmenkes
Author: Soedjajadi Keman
Journal Code: jpkedokterangg050040
