Free Flow

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ment. Solid waste and liquid waste is disposed of in open landfills

in the back yard of the boarding school, while domestic solid and

liquid waste is discharged directly into water bodies through the

pipes without prior processing. This, of course, would be bad both

for local air and water quality and for public health, given the quality

of river water that is used directly. Assessments of the quality of the

raw water used and of waste management for boarding occupants

have made these areas the focus of attention for improving water

resources management at the site through demo site ecohydrology.

Artificial wetland for wastewater treatment

In the early stages of development, demo site ecohydrology at

Pesantren Ar-Risalah Kudat focused on improving the quality of

domestic water and waste management. Domestic wastewater treat-

ment is done by constructing artificial wetlands, hereafter referred to

as ‘wetland’. This wetland functions to improve the quality of domes-

tic wastewater originating from the bathroom, kitchen and any place

of ablution that is not directly discharged into the river water bodies.

Meanwhile, domestic solid waste will be collected in a communal

septic tank where water run-off can flow into the wetland. In order

to improve the quality of water supply to schools, there are future

plans for the manufacture and installation of water treatment plants

at school locations, using river water as a raw material.

Cultural landscape and the subak system in Bali

Subak is the name of the water management (irriga-

tion) system for paddy fields on Bali island, Indonesia,

developed more than 1,000 year ago. Over that time,

this traditional ecologically sustainable irrigation

system has constantly adjusted to changing situations.

The result is an intricate system which is strongly

interlinked with Bali’s natural, social, cultural and

religious environment.

The cultural landscape of Bali consists of five rice

terraces and their water temples which cover 19,500

ha. The temples are the focus of the cooperative subak

system of water management for canals and weirs,

which dates back to the ninth century. Included in

the landscape is the eighteenth-century Royal Water

Temple of Pura Taman Ayun, the largest and most

impressive architectural edifice of its type on the island.

The subak system of democratic and egalitarian farming

practices has enabled the Balinese people to become the

most prolific rice growers in the archipelago despite the

challenge of supporting a dense population.

Rice, the water that sustains it and subak, the coop-

erative social system that controls the water, have

The subak system: temple, paddy field and water

Image: APCE