Water & Wastewater Asia March/April 2019

32 | FROM THE GROUND
Powering water
access with
the sun
By Leong Chee Khuan, Area Managing Director,
South Asia and General Manager for Grundfos Pumps Sdn Bhd
Grundfos became part of the pilot project in the
Kahiyangan village on Pulau Tomia, Indonesia,
providing the system to draw water from a cave
to supply to the local community. Working with
a local partner, Grundfos installed an irrigation
and sinewave filter system with a renewable solar
inverter, powered by 144 solar panels
For many living in urban cities around
the world, it is easy to take electricity
for granted — turn on a power switch
and there it is. Yet, for developing countries
across Southeast Asia, as high as 82 per cent
of rural communities do not have electricity.
Access to electricity has a direct impact
on living standards, including the ability to
get clean water. Today, there are still many
remote areas that lack the infrastructure to
generate enough power to transport water,
which highlights the demand for a system
that is both efficient and sustainable.
A possible solution that can help tackle
Asia’s electrification struggle is the use
of solar energy to power water pumping
systems that draw water from various
sources to meet the needs of families and
communities in rural locations.
WATER SHORTAGE ISSUES ON AN
INDONESIAN ISLAND
In the Indonesian region of South East
Sulawesi lies a small island called Pulau
Tomia (or Tomia Island) renowned for its
famous dive sites and beautiful underwater
life. The island is one of four in the Wakatobi
Regency, and four hours away by boat from
the capital city of Wakatobi.
For 20 years, the Kahiyangan village on
Pulau Tomia has had to deal with shortage
of water, as not only is its water source far
away, but the terrain in between a rock hill
was difficult to traverse. The nearest water
source is a cave - Goa Air Wali - around three
kilometres away. In order to get to the cave,
villagers will have to trek the distance to the
cave, before travelling down 20 metres to
draw water from its springs.
The remote location of Pulau Tomia within
the archipelago means that there are
high logistics costs associated with the
supply and transportation of fossil fuel.
In addition, the extreme terrain also
requires large investments in electricity
infrastructure. With low levels of income,
the villagers are not able to afford traditional
water pumping systems that are powered
by fossil fuel and that require infrastructure
support.
Water & Wastewater Asia • March / April 2019