Bali, being one of the most popular tropical destinations in the world with its beautiful nature and rich culture, has also a longstanding water crisis that has been going on for decades. Aside from the low level of rainfall that made the mountain springs dried up, the fast-growing mass tourism business that are mostly focused in densely populated south of Bali has also been the major factor that is causing this problem. The water usage by the big hotels and resort mostly sourced from the wells drilled deep into the ground which collect the water from the main channels throughout the island. On average a tourist consumes between 2,000 to 4,000 litres of water per day, based on daily water consumption in luxurious resorts and villas whereas a villager in the highlands of Bali where water is scarce, only consumes on average less than 30 litres per day. Overconsumption and diminishing water supply are causing certain areas to experience drought which leads to lower quality of life.
This is an alarming issue for the future of the island and fortunately some NGOs have taken some action to educate and help the people and team up with the local government to create solutions. One of them is Terra – a Bali based enterprise that aims to provide sustainable, safe-drinking water for drought-affected families in rural areas through the use of their natural ceramic water filters. Their Songan Water Project is a crowdfunding project for getting 100 water filters for 100 families in need in Songan village in Kintamani, a village on top of the hill, 1000m above sea level. Water scarcity is common in this area, especially when the dry season hits which means in order to get water, the villagers have to walk 8km to the nearest water source and being charged Rp 150,000 per hour to collect the water. We partnered with Terra by adding to their care packages of essential goods, some of our products: 160 soap bars, 100 hand sanitizers (with a total product value of Rp 7,353,000) and 30 mosquito coil packs during their two visits in April and September 2021 to the village for the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) training and water filter distribution.
If you are keen on knowing and supporting our partners’ humanitarian and environmental initiatives, please visit their online pages:
https://www.terrawaterindonesia.com/
https://www.instagram.com/terrawaterindonesia/?hl=it