Jakarta Faces Drought Threat; Seawater Proposed as Raw Water Source, These Are the Challenges

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Drought is becoming a growing concern for the Jakarta Provincial Government (Pemprov) DKI Jakarta.

If this condition persists longer, the availability of raw water to meet the community's needs could become problematic.

The Jakarta Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) previously issued an early meteorological drought warning for several areas in Jakarta.

According to analysis by BMKG, five regions fall under the "Alert" category for drought during the second ten-day period (Dasarian II) of September 11-20, 2026. These areas are West Jakarta, Central Jakarta, East Jakarta, North Jakarta, and the Thousand Islands.

Amid this situation, the idea of seeking alternative raw water sources has emerged. One such option is seawater, which surrounds Jakarta.

The Chairman of DKI Jakarta's DPRD, Suhud Alynudin, has proposed that the provincial government begins to consider seawater as an alternative raw water source.

According to Suhud, the technology to convert seawater into fresh water is already in use in the Thousand Islands.

Therefore, similar technology could be considered for use on mainland Jakarta.

"What needs to be done is to implement, since in the Thousand Islands there is already desalination technology to convert seawater into clean, fresh water. I think this should also start to be tried in anticipation of the possibility that Jakarta will face a shortage of clean water," Suhud said at the DPRD DKI Jakarta building on Thursday (17/9/2026).

Suhud believes this step needs to be considered now, as the drought could be prolonged and impact water availability.

"It definitely must be anticipated. Recently, BPBD issued an alert level. I think this must be taken seriously because drought is inevitable and likely to last a long time," he added.

Pramono Opens Possibility of Seawater Processing

The proposal then received a response from Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung.

Pramono said that processing seawater into fresh water could be realized.

However, he noted that this would be related to the planned construction of the Giant Sea Wall.

"To convert seawater into fresh water that can be used, one key step is to immediately start the Giant Sea Wall project," Pramono said when met at the PMI DKI Jakarta office on Thursday (18/9/2026).