WASTEWATER TREATMENT IN INDONESIA

In the course of my studies and my career, I have had the good fortune to travel to many parts of the world, and meet with peoples of various description, different cultural, moral, social and religious backgrounds. Indonesia was one such country I visited way back in the year 1990 in connection with a professional assignment. Vast growth potential of this beautiful and resource rich country has been stifled by a succession of inept Governments and all pervading corruption - a close parallel to the decades long sad story of India. Bali in Indonesia may be eulogised as the "enchanted land" by tour operators : not so the rest of the country where conditions are not far removed from those prevailing in rural India.

WASTEWATER TREATMENT FOR A TEXTILE MILL

IN INDONESIA

I have reasonably good knowledge, skill and experience in design and execution of Wastewater treatment plants for textile mills.  In my initial years in Dorr-Oliver, the Surat - Baroda-Nadiad - Ahmedabad belt was my regular beat : And all this was prime textile country in the boom years of the 80’s.  Ambica, Ambuja, Arbuda,  Arvind, Calico, Navsari, New Shorrock, Saraspur, Sarangpur, Garden Mills, all household names of the day,  were my clients.  In the first phase, treatment was restricted to primary treatment – Coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation for colour and suspended solids removal.  Secondary stage was added later to include biological treatment.  Reliance Industries in Naroda, a fledgling manufacturing facility at that time, put up the first integrated treatment plant. Reliance stole all my designs and engineering, and by the most foul act of chicanery, gave the job to Voltas.  I have harboured a deep rooted hatred for the Reliance group ever since.

Towards the end of my stint with Dorr-Oliver, I was associated with the design and engineering of a Wastewater Treatment and Water Treatment Plant for a major Polynosic Staple Fibre Plant of Tungabhadra Fibres Ltd.,( TUFIL).  Tehcnical knowhow, plant and machinery were purchased from Mitsubishi Rayons.  Mr. V.P Gohel of Gohel Consultants and Engineers was the consultant to TUFIL.

The Late Mr. V P Gohel was the doyen of the Pulp, paper, rayon and synthetic fibres industry, and a towering figure both in India and abroad in the profession.  His achievements during his lifetime and accolades received from across the Globe are truly mind boggling.  His profile in brief may be found in :

http://www.indiamarkets.com/imo/industry/paper/paperfea1.asp  

It may be that Mr. Gohel had a soft corner for me as a fellow Chemical Engineer : I would like to believe that it was my seminal work in the design of the treatment plant for TUFIL that earned me his respect.  During his last assignment abroad for PT Texmaco Jaya, Mr. Gohel invited me to visit Indonesia, and complete design, engineering and procurement of critical equipments of a treatment plant for a Purified Terephthalic Acid ( PTA) and Polyester plant.  Thus it was, that I made my way to Jakarta via Singapore in January of 1990.

The overnight stay in Singapore was made memorable only by the number of visiting cards slipped under my hotel door, offering all kinds of titillating massages, with alluring colour photographs of the practitioners of this oldest profession.

In Jakarta, I got down in earnest to designing the treatment plant.  The PT Texmaco office was in a spanking new building of glass and chrome, with all latest gadgetry associated with a Hi Tech building.  A visit to the site of the proposed factory was the first order of business. It was a drive of about 30 KM West of Jakarta, again on a spanking new expressway courtesy the Peoples’ Republic of China (This was the age before tensions heightened and violence of volcanic proportions erupted in the year 1998 between the locals and the ethnic Chinese, resulting in death of thousands of  “Chinese Indonesians” ).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Indonesians

The site of the factory was near a paddy field ( the Indonesian countryside is one big paddy field), with a fair sized irrigation canal running alongside, brimming with water.  This was to be the source of water for the factory.  I marveled at the engineering genius and far sightedness of the Dutch who ruled Indonesia, and built these canals : the locks and the gates, though ancient, were in perfect working order.

The average rural Indonesian is lazy, poor and uneducated, with innocence and ignorance bordering on stupidity.  At a Rest stop on the way back from the site, I spied a local who had run out of gas for his rickety motorcycle.  He had apparently managed to get a plastic bag full of the fuel from the nearest petrol pump. The plastic pouch was securely tied and knotted with a piece of thread.  Unable to unravel the knot, this crazy cur would have immolated himself had we not stopped him in time : he was proceeding to cut the knot open with the burning tip of his cigarette !

The assignment in Indonesia took me a full 12 days to complete, at the end of which detailed construction drawings were generated, critical equipments ordered out and the execution plan put in place.  All through my stay in Jakarta, my staple dinner menu in the Hotel restaurant was Hamburger with fries and slaw washed down with a couple of bottles of Bintang Beer.  Bintang is brewed by Heineken, who set up the brewery in Surabaya in the year 1929.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bintang_Beer

To celebrate a job well done, I was treated to dinner one evening by the engineering department of PT Texmaco, in an authentic Sumatran restaurant : All the dishes on the menu of the day were laid out on the table : you chose and ate only from those plates which you fancied, and get billed for the plate.  Nasi Goreng with chicken and Nasi Goreng with prawns were the signature dishes of the day, both delicious.

The return journey via Singapore- Chennai  and then on to Bangalore, sad to say was uneventful : except for a minor irritant of cattle class travel in the Brindavan Express in the absence of prior reservation.

Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal                                                              August 12, 2011