Revised Public Drinking Water Standards and Monitoring Procedures

Minister of Health Regulation No. 492/MENKES/PER/IV/2010 was recently issued to implement the state’s guarantee to provide healthy drinking water, defining revised sanitary standards, and introducing new monitoring procedures.

The ‘healthy drinking water’ standard is set out in the Attachment to the regulation, which lists a series of chemical, physical, biological, and radioactive substances, and regulates the maximal levels that may be present in the water for it to be safe for human consumption.

In order to maintain healthy drinking water standards, internal and external monitoring procedures are laid out by the regulation. Internally, water distributors must conduct sanitation inspections, water sampling and quality assessment, lab analysis, and follow-ups on any discrepancies with the minimum drinking water standard. Externally, depending on the area the Regional Health Office (Dinas Kesehatan Daerah) or Harbor Health Office (Kantor Kesehatan Pelabuhan) will carry out monitoring procedures, and may apply a prohibition to distributors of drinking water if it is found that the water fails to meet the minimum standards. However, the regulation makes no mention of how often, or at what periods the external or internal monitoring must take place.

Apart from prohibiting the distribution of water that does not meet the required standards, the regulation makes administrative sanctions available, although it does not provide specifics; presumably to the effect of license suspension or revocation, and / or administrative fines.

The regulation repeals and replaces Minister of Health Decision No. 907/Menkes/SK/VII/2002 on Terms and Supervision of Drinking Water Quality.

The regulation took force on 19 April 2010.