Clean Water for a Home on Peatland: Mains, Bore Wells and Filtering

On peat and swampland, water is part of the house. It can run brown like tea, leave yellow stains in the bathroom, or smell of metal. Often people only notice once they have moved in.

This guide is for anyone buying or renting a home on peatland, for example around Banjarmasin and Barito Kuala or in other peat areas of Kalimantan. It covers how to identify where a house gets its water, what to check on a viewing, and treatment options that make sense.

Why water on peatland is different

Peat forms from plant remains that rot very slowly in ground that is always wet. Much of South Kalimantan’s lowland is swamp (rawa) and peat (gambut). Our guide to homes on Banjarmasin’s swampland describes the area in more detail.

Water that passes through peat usually has three traits:

• Brown, because it carries organic matter from the peat.
• Acidic, with a low pH.
• High in iron, which leaves yellow to orange stains and a metallic taste.

You feel the effects every day. Bathroom floors and white clothes get stained, pipes and pumps clog up faster, and acidic water speeds up rust on metal fittings.

Know where the house gets its water

Homes on peatland often use more than one source. Ask which source is used for what.

• PDAM (the regional water utility). Ask whether water flows all day or only at set hours, what the pressure is like at peak times, and whose name the account is in. Ask for receipts for the last few months. If supply comes in shifts, the house needs a storage tank and a pump big enough for the household.
• Bore well. Ask how deep it is, when it was drilled and who drilled it. Shallow water on peatland is usually peat water. Deeper layers can differ, but they can also be high in iron or brackish, depending on the location.
• Rainwater. Some homes collect rainwater for cooking and drinking.
• River water. Riverside homes sometimes use it for washing.

Ask the neighbours too. How deep are their wells, and what is their water like?

What to check on a viewing

• Colour. Run a tap for a few minutes, then fill a clear glass or a white bucket. Let it stand for a while. A yellow or orange layer settling at the bottom usually means iron.
• Smell. Smell the water. Note any metallic or rotten smell.
• Stains. Look at the water tub (bak mandi), toilet, floor and sink. Stubborn yellow to brown stains mean problem water has been used there for a long time.
• Laundry and household items. Look at white clothes, buckets and the water dispenser. Yellowish stains there can tell you more than the seller does.
• Pressure. Open several taps at once, including upstairs, and watch the flow.
• Tanks and filters. Check that the storage tank is covered and clean, and ask when the filter tubes were last backwashed or had their media changed.
• Pipes and pump. Look for rust and seepage. How to check pipes and drains is covered in checking a home’s water lines and drainage.

Brackish water in long dry spells

In a long dry spell, some rivers turn brackish as seawater pushes further upstream while the river’s flow weakens. Homes that depend on river water, directly or through a network that draws from the river, can feel it too.

Ordinary household filters do not remove salt. That takes other technology, such as reverse osmosis, which costs more and needs its own upkeep.

Ask the neighbours what their water was like in the last long dry spell. If the house uses a bore well near a large river or the coast, ask whether the water has ever tasted salty. Other things that only show in certain seasons are covered in viewing property in the wet and dry seasons.

Treatment options for peat water

Not all household water has to be treated to drinking standard. One sensible approach is to treat water for bathing and washing so it is not brown and does not stain, and use a separate source for drinking, such as boiled rainwater or bottled drinking water in gallon jugs. The filter system can then be smaller and cheaper to maintain.

Find out what is in the water with a lab test first, then choose the treatment stages. Buying filter tubes without knowing what is in the water can leave you with the wrong media, or media that clog quickly.

Common stages:

• Raising the pH with lime. The dose follows the test results. Too much lime makes the water cloudy and leaves scale.
• Aeration. The water is exposed to air, for example by spraying it, running it down steps, or using an air pump. Dissolved iron turns into particles that can settle or be filtered out.
• Silica sand. Traps particles, including the iron deposits formed by aeration.
• Manganese greensand. Helps remove iron and manganese. It needs backwashing and upkeep as the installer instructs.
• Zeolite. Often used in household filter tubes to help trap and bind some dissolved substances.
• Activated carbon. Reduces colour, smell and taste from organic matter. Carbon gets used up and has to be replaced regularly, and the browner the water, the faster that happens.

A common order is the storage tank and aeration, then sand or greensand, then activated carbon. Cost depends on water quality and how much you use. Get several quotes that state the media set-up and the maintenance schedule.

Collecting rainwater cleanly

Rainwater can be a good source if it is collected properly. The size of the tank decides how long the supply lasts into the dry season.

• Roof and gutters cleaned regularly. A roof with peeling paint or thick moss should not be used to collect drinking water.
• The first flush discarded, since it carries dust, bird droppings and ash, especially after a long dry spell or a haze season.
• A tightly closed tank, with mesh over every opening so mosquitoes can’t breed inside.
• The tank drained and cleaned regularly.
• Drinking water boiled first.

Testing the water at a laboratory

A lab test gives you numbers to choose a treatment with. Ask a regional health laboratory (laboratorium kesehatan daerah) or an accredited water laboratory. The local health office can usually point you to one.

Follow the lab’s instructions on bottles and how to take the sample. The cost depends on how many parameters you test, so ask for the list and the fees first. The usual tests:

• pH, iron and manganese.
• Colour, turbidity and organic matter.
• Salt content, especially if the sample is taken in the dry season.
• Bacteria, such as E. coli and coliforms.

Test before buying if the seller allows it, then once more after the filter is installed to confirm it works.

What to do next

On the viewing, run the taps, collect a sample, check the stains and ask the neighbours about the dry season. Before you pay, test the water and add the cost of a tank and filters to your budget. After you move in, maintain the filters on schedule.

If you are looking for a house in Banjarmasin, the homes Vorneo is marketing are on our houses for sale in Banjarmasin page.