JURNAL TEKNIK LINGKUNGAN ITB
E-ISSN: 27146715
How Do Producers' Perception and Behaviours Affect the Physical Water Quality of Refilled Water in Urban Bandung, Indonesia?
M Aldiy Akbar1, Anindrya Nastiti1*
1Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesa 10 Bandung 40132, Indonesia
*E-mail : [email protected]
Abstract INFO ARTIKEL
In Indonesia, water refill stations expanded as private entrepreneurs sought to provide drinking water while making a profit. Refilling stations must guarantee that the drinking water meets quality and sanitation hygiene requirements. This paper attempts to link the perceptions and behaviours of refilled water vendors with the physical quality of the water they sell. The study is focused on 66 refill stations in urban Bandung, Indonesia. We measured total dissolved solids (TDS) as a proxy of the physical quality of refill water (Y). We also assessed the producers' perceptions (X1) and behaviours (X2) using questionnaires and a sanitary checklist. To determine the correlation of X1 and X2 with Y, a Rank Spearman analysis was conducted using SPSS IBM© ver.26. The results show that there is a significant relationship and negative correlation between the respondent's behaviours and the physical quality of the refill drinking water it produces (p = 0.010; r = -0.314). Targeted education on refill water station owners will be beneficial in maintaining and improving their perceptions of the good practices of drinking water production, which will enhance the quality of water produced to safeguard public health.
Keywords: behaviours, drinking water, perceptions, physical water quality, refill stations
Sitasi: Akbar, M. A., & Nastiti A.
2023. How Do Producers' Perception and Behaviours Affect the Physical Water Quality of Refilled Water in Urban Bandung, Indonesia?. Jurnal Teknik Lingkungan 29 (1), 60-66.
Article History:
Received 31 Maret 2023 Revised 2 April 2023 Accepted 4 April 2023 Available online 18 April 2023
Jurnal Teknik Lingkungan Institut Teknologi Bandung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.itb.ac.id
Abstrak
Di Indonesia, depot air minum isi ulang (DAMIU) merupakan jenis usaha yang berkembang pesat. DAMIU harus menjamin bahwa air minum memenuhi persyaratan kualitas dan higiene sanitasi. Penelitian ini menghubungkan persepsi dan perilaku penjual air minum isi ulang dengan kualitas fisika air yang dijualnya. Studi difokuskan pada 66 DAMIU di perkotaan Bandung, Indonesia. Total padatan terlarut (TDS) diukur sebagai proksi dari kualitas fisika air minum isi ulang (Y). Persepsi produsen (X1) dan perilaku produesn (X2) diukur menggunakan kuesioner dan sanitary checklist. Untuk mengetahui hubungan antara X1 dan X2 dengan Y, analisis Rank Spearman dilakukan dengan menggunakan SPSS IBM© ver.26. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat hubungan yang signifikan dan korelasi negatif antara perilaku responden dengan kualitas fisika air minum isi ulang yang dihasilkannya (p = 0,010; r = -0,314). Edukasi yang terarah kepada pemilik DAMIU akan bermanfaat dalam mempertahankan dan meningkatkan persepsi mereka tentang praktek produksi air minum yang baik, yang akan meningkatkan kualitas air yang diproduksi untuk menjaga kesehatan masyarakat.
Kata kunci: perilaku, air minum, persepsi, kualitas fisik air, DAMIU
1. Introduction
Water is a resource vital for human life. United Nations acknowledged that safe drinking water without discrimination is a human right (United Nations, 2010). For humans to survive, they require safe drinking water. Safe drinking water is also an essential component of development sectors that determines the general well-being of citizens, and failure to meet these fundamental human needs has resulted in significant, unnecessary, and preventable human suffering (Gleick, 1998). Investing in the water sector is investing in all Millennium Development Goals targets, including poverty alleviation and reducing health risks. "Universal access" has been the primary goal of the post-2015 global development framework in the water supply sector, which is expected to be achieved by 2030. The Government of Indonesia ambitiously set such a target eleven years earlier, by 2019, marking the end of Joko Widodo's first presidential era. The concept of universal access is not a new policy target; the 1977's United Nations Water Conference, followed by the first Drinking Water and Sanitation International Decade 1981-1990, aims to achieve "water for all" by 1990. The universal access target was further downgraded when the MDGs commenced through its Target 7c: halving the proportion of the population without access to safe drinking water. As the MDGs era had ended, the discussion of the post- 2015 water agenda put forward once more the notion of universal access through Target 6.1 of SDG: by 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.
In reality, many people cannot claim their fundamental rights over water. Today, the provision of drinking water is not evenly distributed socially, economically, demographically, and geographically (WHO &
UNICEF, 2014; WHO & UNICEF, 2017). The growing population and the high flow of urbanisation to urban Indonesia increase the water demand. Various decentralised water treatment solutions have been created to provide an alternative method of obtaining safe drinking water. Non-public providers comprise a significant part of water supply services in the global urban South. Bottled water markets are rapidly expanding in urban Indonesia, with many products available, ranging from multinational brands to small refill water stations.
However, because branded bottled water is three to five times more expensive than refilled bottled water, refilled water kiosks are more commonly used by low-income households (Muntalif et al., 2017). In Indonesia, water refilling stations have expanded without external interference as private entrepreneurs seek to provide clean water while profiting from the low-income sector (Sima et al., 2012). A water refilling station is an industrial business that processes raw water into drinking water sold directly to consumers. Every refill station is obliged to guarantee that the drinking water produced meets the quality standards or drinking water quality requirements per the provisions of the legislation and meets the sanitation hygiene requirements in drinking water management (Ministry of Health, 2014). Apart from being easy to obtain, refilled water is also relatively affordable for the low-income community.
The popularity of refilling water is shown, for example, by the rising number of water refilling stations in West Bandung Regency, Indonesia. In 2008, there were 22 refill stations recorded, increasing to 155 by 2011 (Khoeriyah & Anis, 2015). This shows an increase of 133 water refill stations (85.81%) in three years. Similar trends were also observed in other cities of Indonesia (Khoeriyah & Anis, 2015). This study aims to review the refill water quality and the perceptions and behaviours of refill water station owners in managing their products in Bandung City. Furthermore, this study also aims to understand the correlation between physical water quality and the perceptions and behaviours of the producers. Section 2 explains the business model of refill water stations, while in Section 3, we describe the materials and methods we used in this study. Section 4 conveys the results and the discussions of this study. Finally, in Section 5, we conclude.
2. Water Treatment in Refill Stations
Water treatment in refill water stations generally consists of 5 (five) stages: Transportation, Filtration, Disinfection, Container Sterilisation, and Water Refilling. Figure 1 shows the scheme of the water refilling stations' business model.
Figure 1. Water refilling stations' business model
In the Transportation stage, raw water taken from the source, possibly from springs or groundwater, is transported using a tanker truck and collected in food-grade storage tanks. Based on the Decree of Industrial and Trade Minister Number 651 the Year 2004 concerning Technical Requirements for Drinking Water Stations, tanks, gallows, pumps, and connections on tanker trucks carrying raw water must be made of food- grade materials. In addition, the units must be made of materials resistant to corrosion and chemical contamination, which can contaminate water. Tanks on the tanker trucks carrying raw water must be cleaned, sanitised, and disinfected outside and inside at least once every 3 (three) months to prevent contamination of raw water pollutants during the raw water transportation stage. The water will be filtered using several sand filters, activated carbon filters, and other filters at the Filtration stage. The sand filter filters out coarse particles using grains of silica (SiO2) of at least 80%. The activated carbon filter consists of a coal or coconut shell that absorbs odours, tastes, colours, residual chlorine, and organic matter. This filter can reduce the concentration of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in water because the adsorption principle possessed by activated carbon can absorb organic matter or ions in water. Other filters function as fine filter that can filter out particles of a maximum size of 10 (ten) microns. The three filtration stages are generally packed in one device: the filtration tube. This tube also requires periodic maintenance, such as replacing saturated filtration materials and backwashing.
The disinfection stage is carried out to kill pathogenic microorganisms. Disinfection using ozone (O3) occurs in a tank or other ozone mixer with a minimum ozone concentration of 0.1 ppm, and residual ozone shortly after filling ranges from 0.06 to 0.1 ppm. Other than ozone, disinfection measures can be done using Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation with a wavelength of 254 nm or power of 2537 0 A with a minimum intensity of 10,000 MW seconds per cm². At the Container Sterilization stage, the containers should be made of food-grade materials and clean. Refill water stations are obliged to inspect containers carried by consumers and refuse those deemed unfit for use as drinking water containers. Then, the container is sanitised using ozone (O3) or ozone water. When washing the container, food-grade detergent and clean water should be used at 60 – 85 degrees Celsius. Next, a rinsing with enough drinking water to remove the detergent residue must be conducted. Finally, water Refilling into the container must be carried out in a closed, hygienic room, according to the Minister of Industry and Trade Decree No. 651 of 2004 concerning Technical Requirements for Drinking Water Stations. This aims to prevent environmental contamination in the container when water is refilled.
3. Materials and Methods
3.1 Study Area and Sample Determination
This study is conducted in Bandung City, West Java, Indonesia. Bandung is selected as a case study area because of the rapid population growth that affects water demand. In this study, we focus on the refill kiosks that operate in Bandung City. We took two types of samples in this study: water samples and refilled water producers. Water samples are drinking water products produced by refill water stations. Meanwhile, the participants interviewed in this study own the refill water stations. Therefore, refilled water samples were also taken simultaneously at the survey at the refill water stations. The total population of refill water stations is unknown; thus, the number of samples was determined using the Cochran formula. With a significance of
Transportati on and Storage
Filtration Disinfection Container Sterilization
Water Refilling
90%, 10% error, and p=0.5, the sample size in this study was 66 sample points spread over 30 sub-districts in Bandung City. These samples were determined randomly by the Area Sampling method.
3.2 Assessing Physical Water Quality
Total dissolved solids (TDS) tests were conducted as a proxy of the physical quality of refilled water. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) are materials dissolved in water that are not filtered using Millipore filter paper with a size of 0.45 micrometres [9]. These solids are organic and inorganic compounds dissolved in water, minerals, salts, metals, cations or anions. The leading cause of TDS is inorganic materials in the form of common ions found in water, such as sodium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, bicarbonate, and sulphate. In addition, some chemical compounds that make up TDS are toxic and carcinogenic organic compounds (Effendi, 2003).
Drinking water samples were collected at the final stage of water treatment (output) after the producers refilled the water into 19-L bottles, ready to be purchased and consumed by consumers. We took water samples in the container/bottle because the cleanliness of the container can affect water quality. Therefore, the container was rotated slowly to homogenise the water before water samples were taken. Afterwards, water samples were transferred to a clean container in a volume enough to immerse the cathode in a TDS meter.
Then, the water sample was directly measured for the TDS content using a TDS-Meter. The measured TDS values will be compared with reference to the standards of the Regulation of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia Number: 492/MENKES/PER/IV/2010 concerning Drinking Water Quality Requirements. The regulation states that 1000 mL of tested drinking water sample must not contain TDS exceeding 500 mg.
3.3 Assessing Producers’ Perception
To assess perceptions of refill water producers, a questionnaire was developed. The producer perception instrument is arranged on a Likert scale, which allows respondents to choose 5 (five) alternative answers: 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (disagree), 3 (neutral), 4 (agree), and 5 (strongly agree). The questionnaire covers 26 questions regarding the perceptions surrounding three aspects of refill water production: physical conditions of the refill stations, the needs of refill water treatment units, and the hygiene practices of handlers.
Perceptions (X1) will be classified as "very high" to "very low". The classification is done by comparing the median value (Mi) and standard deviation (SDi) by referring to the following criteria (see Table 1).
Table 1.Classification of perceptions
Criteria Perception
X1 ≥ Mi + 1.5 SDi Very high
Mi + 0.5 SDi ≤ X1 < Mi + 1.5 SDi High
Mi - 0.5 SDi ≤ X1 < Mi + 0.5 SDi Adequate
Mi - 1.5 SDi ≤ X1 < Mi - 0.5 SDi Low
X1 < Mi - 1.5 SDi Very low
Source: Sudijono, 2015
3.4 Assessing Producers’ Behaviours
To assess the behaviours of refill water producers, we utilised a checklist of sanitary inspections based on the Regulation of the Ministry of Health Number 43 the Year 2014 regarding Sanitary Hygiene of Refill Water Stations. Guidelines for the Sanitation Inspection checklist will be used to assess the compliance of refill stations’ business processes with the standards that have been determined and regulated in the Minister of Health Regulation No. 43 of 2014 concerning Sanitation Hygiene for Drinking Water Depots and Decree of the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Indonesia No. 651/MPP/kep/10/2004 concerning Technical Requirements for Drinking Water Depots and Their Trading. Therefore, good producer behaviours
reflect compliance with relevant applicable regulations. Based on compliance standards regulated by the Minister of Health Regulation No. 43 of 2014, refill water stations will be classified into two: compliant refill water stations (C) and non-compliant refill water stations (NC). Refill water stations classified as C have a minimum score of 70 out of 100 assessment points on the Sanitary Inspection. Conversely, if the points of the Sanitary Inspection checklist <70 points), then the refilled water stations will be subject to the NC and checklist status and declared unfit for the operation to provide drinking water supplies for the community. The complete sanitary inspection checklist is available in the supplementary materials.
3.5 Analysis of The Correlation Between Producers’ Perceptions, Behaviours, and Physical Water Quality
This research consists of 3 variables: perception of producers (X1) and producer behaviour (X2). X1 and X2, respectively act as independent variables. Furthermore, total dissolved solids (Y) serve as the dependent variable. To determine the correlation of X1 and X2 with Y, a Rank Spearman analysis was conducted using SPSS IBM© ver.26.
4. Results
None of the samples taken from the refill water kiosks exceeds the applicable drinking water standard for total dissolved solids (TDS) parameters. The TDS values of 66 refill water kiosks range between 5 mg/L to 169 mg/L. The regulation referred to in determining the quality standard for TDS content in the refilled water is the Minister of Health Regulation No. 492 of 2010 concerning Requirements for the Quality of Drinking Water.
In these regulations, the quality standard for TDS content in water is below 500 mg / L (<500 mg / L). So, it can be concluded that the entire refill water stations sampled have met the requirements in terms of physical quality.
In the drinking water business of refilling water stations from upstream to downstream, many factors determine the integrity of its business processes. One of the factors that can affect the integrity of refill stations’
business processes is perception. The perception referred to in this study is the perception of the producer or owner of the refill stations, who ideally has high awareness and insight into refill stations’ business processes.
This is because the owner of refill stations is a person who deals directly with every choice, decision, policy, and strategic step related to the business model he is running. So, ideally, refill stations owners will better understand the flow of refilled drinking water from raw water to products that will then be sold to consumers.
The business's success will also depend on the quality of the refilled drinking water products it creates or produces. Based on the perception survey, 87.88% of refill water station owners have "Very High" perceptions and 12.12% are classified as having "High" perceptions. None of the respondents fell into the "Adequate",
"Low", and "Very Low" categories (0%).
As producers of refilled drinking water, the owners are responsible at all times for the quality and safety of the water they produce. This is in line with the statement of WHO (2006), which reads, "Suppliers of drinking water must be responsible at all times for the drinking water they produce" (WHO, 2006). The perception of refill kiosk owners about the quality of refill drinking water products they produce is the response of producers (refill kiosk owners) about refill kiosks’ business processes in managing drinking water, as well as controlling and guaranteeing the quality of drinking water products (which includes upstream to downstream). This is in line with the statement of WHO, which reads, "Agencies supplying drinking water are responsible for quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) in the supply of water for consumption, in any way, to ensure and verify that the systems they manage can supply clean water regularly to protect public health” (WHO, 2006). Based on the sanitary inspection checklist, all refilled water stations are deemed fit for operation as they fall into the C category.
The Spearman Rank Correlation Test results show that there is a significant relationship and negative correlation between the respondent's perception (X1) and the physical quality of the refilled drinking water it produces (Y) (p = 0.027; r = -0.272). The perception of refilled water producers/owners significantly influences the quality of refilled drinking water produced. The refill station owners are the persons who deal directly with every choice, decision, policy and strategic move related to the business model they are running.
Therefore, every attitude and approach is derived from the producers' perception of refill water business processes. This, of course, can affect the system's integrity along the drinking water supply chain. The results of the Spearman Rank Correlation Test also show that there is a significant relationship and negative correlation between the respondent's behaviour (X2) and the physical quality of the refilled drinking water it produces (Y) (p = 0.010; r = -0.314).
This research recommends that the refill station owners are expected to check raw water periodically and refilled drinking water products produced at the Health Service laboratory or private parties to ensure the consistency of the quality of the water they sell. The owners should provide a direct analysis water quality measurement tool (such as TDS-Meter) to directly check water quality to ensure the quality of the water they produce at any time. Moreover, refilled station owners should post the results of inspections of drinking water quality and raw water quality from the Health Service laboratory or private parties to inform consumers about the quality of water produced at the refill stations. The owners should also provide clean work clothes and hygiene attributes (such as headcovers, aprons, mouth covers, etc.) to their workers. The owner of the refilling water station should always check the workers' health regularly. The owners should have a maintenance schedule for water treatment equipment and materials (such as filtration and sterilisation equipment) so they do not expire and can run as expected. The owner provides hygiene support facilities such as hand washing facilities, bathrooms, and so on to minimise the impact of health risks that can arise at any time. The government should better supervise, control, and develop the refill station owners. Meanwhile, the government should socialise to refill station owners to improve hygiene perceptions and behaviours.
5. Conclusions
From this study, it can be concluded that the physical quality of refilled water in Bandung City follows the quality standards for the TDS content of drinking water issued by the Minister of Health Regulation No. 492 of 2010 concerning Drinking Water Quality Requirements. Refill station owners in Bandung City have a very high perception of insights related to refilling water business processes. All samples of refill water stations have a sanitation inspection score of >70, complied to the Regulation of the Ministry of Health Number 43 of 2014 concerning Sanitary Hygiene for Drinking Water Depots. The Spearman Rank Correlation Test shows that there is a correlation between producer perceptions (X1) and producer behaviour (X2) with the physical quality of the water (Y) they produce. Further research is needed regarding the chemical and biological quality parameters in the drinking water supply system at refilling stations to complete the insights and knowledge.
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