Preliminary Study of PDAM Tirtawening Water Treatment Plant, Bandung, Indonesia for Sustainable Production Capacity

Abstract

In this study, the raw water intake, transmission pipeline and the PDAM Badaksinga Treatment Plant in the city of Bandung in West Java, Indonesia was researched in order to evaluate the increase of capacity of Treatment Plant in order to satisfy the water demand of the citizens of Bandung. For this purpose water quality and flow measurements from the raw water intake, flow measurements along the transportation to the treatment plant and the water quality at the treatment plant were done to obtain an integral view of the current situation. The raw water intake from Cikalong area in the south of Bandung was observed in this project. It comes mainly from the outlet discharge of PLTA Cikalong, the hydropower plant (3000L/s – 8000L/s with better water quality), and alternatively from Cisangkuy River (500L/s). The contribution of these two sources, along with their water quality and the efficiency of presedimentation tanks, were investigated through field measurements and historical data observation. This study gives the indication that the quantity of water is generally sufficient but it needs some mechanisms to have a daily constant flow. A seasonal cycle storage mechanism and presedimentation tanks behaviour are recommended as an alternative solution and a consideration. The new transmission pipeline, Pipa Baru, was focused for research in this project. This pipeline had three main problems which included the occurrence of bursts, never functioning at full capacity, and lacking accurate flow measurements. These problems were tackled through field measurements and simulations. For the first two problems, the results showed that air stagnation may be the cause of the problem. The accuracy of flow measurements can be overcome by more training and calibration of the SCADA, the online measurement device of the plant. Concerning the water quality, even when most of the times the effluent of PDAM Badaksinga Treatment Plant meet the environment and legal standards, the system is not robust and vulnerable to any change in the influent due to the lack of monitoring, therefore the frequency of monitoring should be increased, moreover online devices should be installed. Furthermore, the removal of certain parameters should be studied in the future and special attention should be given to the PAC dose to know the exact amount of aluminum that is dose in order to enhance the performance of the following units (sedimentation and filtration) and consequently to produce a better and safer water quality. It should be noted that the expertise of the operators is an advantage, so that training should be given to the operators in order to update the knowledge. Furthermore, in relation to the operation and equipment more improvements, investments and preventive maintenance need to be done to enhance the performance of the complete water supply system of PDAM.