Jakarta Provincial Government Installs 166 Water Mist Generators to Combat Pollution

The air pollution issue has resurfaced following presidential candidate number two, Prabowo Subianto's, questioning of the pollution reduction efforts undertaken by presidential candidate number one and former Jakarta Governor, Anies Baswedan, during the 2024 Presidential Debate held at the KPU office in Jakarta on Tuesday, December 12, 2023.

Jakarta is known to have some of the highest air pollution levels in Indonesia and globally.

"During Mas Anies's tenure, Jakarta frequently recorded the highest pollution index in the world. How is it that with a budget of Rp80 trillion, Mr. Anies, as governor, couldn't do anything significant to reduce pollution?" Prabowo asked.

Regardless of the debate and Anies's term in office, what efforts is the Jakarta Provincial Government (Pemprov DKI Jakarta) currently undertaking to combat pollution?

As of October 20, 2023, the Jakarta Provincial Government has installed at least 166 devices claimed to be pollution control systems, or water mist generators, in various buildings across Jakarta's five administrative areas.

These buildings include seven Jakarta Provincial Government offices: the Jakarta Pusat City Hall, the Jakarta Utara City Hall, the Jakarta Timur City Hall, the Jakarta Barat City Hall, the Jakarta Selatan City Hall, and two buildings within the Jakarta City Hall complex.

The highest number of installations, 71 units, is in West Jakarta, spread across 41 buildings.

Fifty units are installed in South Jakarta, evenly distributed across 50 buildings.

There are 31 units in Central Jakarta, each in a separate building. North and East Jakarta each have seven units across six buildings.

The Jakarta Provincial Government explains that the technology works by spraying a fine mist that moistens the surrounding area.

"The dispersed mist or water droplets dissolve the pollutant particles causing air pollution," the Jakarta Provincial Government stated.

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Separately, Tri Handoko Seto, Senior Expert Engineer at BMKG (Indonesia Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics) research, explained that two types of water mist generators were tested on Sunday, August 27, 2023, atop the Pertamina Building in Central Jakarta.

According to CNN Indonesia, the first device has a very high output capacity of approximately 200 liters per minute. The second device has an output of about 10 liters per minute, producing very fine water droplets resembling mist under high pressure.

This device was developed by Tri Handoko and the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), now merged into BRIN (National Research and Innovation Agency), since 2019.

"Test results showed that the mist generator is effective in reducing pollutant concentration from approximately 100 to approximately 50," he said in a written statement received by CNN Indonesia on Friday, September 1, 2023.

However, success factors remain. Tri stated that using this device requires consideration of several factors, including capacity, thrust, chimney angle, and height.

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