Page 9 - E-MODUL PEMBELAJARAAN LIFESKILL EDISI MENGANYAM

Planting Water Hyacinth in Jakarta: The

Perfect Recipe for Environmental Disasters

The DKI Jakarta government's plan to plant water hyacinth in Sentiong River or Kali

Item has been the subject of discussion by residents in recent days. It boils down to one

main question: is it effective to improve water quality?

Researcher Gadis Sri Haryani, said that water hyacinth can indeed restore polluted

waters. Water hyacinth is a plant that can absorb organic and inorganic compounds

with a high level of effectiveness, or in biology it is called phytoremediation – pollutant

washing mediated by plants.

It's just that, said Gadis, its use needs to be considered because the growth of water

hyacinth is vulnerable to uncontrolled. If this happens and the river surface is

completely covered, the ecosystem there will be disturbed. "Because when it grows,

water hyacinth can branch. If the growth is not controlled, it will cause new problems,

namely the closure of the water [surface] and can hinder the flow of water. This has the

potential for flooding.

Water hyacinth can accelerate silting because if it dies, the plant will go down and

settle to the bottom of the lake. The easiest way if this has happened is to lift it manually.

And that costs a lot of money. In 2013, the DKI Provincial Government budgeted up to Rp.

8
46 billion to do this.