YOGYAKARTA – Sugito, 36 years old, looks happy. Understandably, he no longer has to walk miles to fetch water or wait for water being provided in his village. Now, water reservoir on Krasak River at the foot of Mt. Merapi has been operational again. Previously, the reservoir had been broken by the cold lava from Mt. Merapi.
The man who settled in Girikerto Village, Turi, Sleman, still remembers when along with other residents they were making the tub by themselves. It took over 10 months for them to build the reservoir and install new water pipeline. They had to carry the cement, pipes, and sand bags to the water source which is 5 kilometers away or 1.5 hours to the location. "We did everything on our own until eventually we were assisted by UGM," the Chairman of "Krasak Lestari" Society, water management organization of Girikerto and Wonokerto villages said.
Sugito is one of 1,200 families from Wonokerto and Girikerto villages who need water reservoir from Krasak River. Now, with the help of UGM-Baznas cooperation, through the program conducted by KKN PPM UGM students, the channel of water source has been completed since mid-July. "Three water tubs which are already built by the society by turns," KKN PPM manager, Dr. Irkham Widiono, said on the sidelines of a visit to the site on Monday (22/8) afternoon in Girikerto Village.
Furthermore, Irkham said that UGM made the design and helped pipeline procurement to help rebuild the source of spring water reservoir to flow back to the residents. "We also make 8 main reservoirs sizing 1.5 x 1.5 meters," he said.
Interestingly, according to Irkham, during the construction, all elements of people worked together. The process was not easy because to reach the site they had to go through footpaths. "Cement and steel have been brought there through the footpath. All people worked together," he said.
Senior Vice Rector for Academic, Research, and Community Service, Prof. Dr. Retno Sunarminingsih, M.Sc., Apt., congratulated the students who had been successful in requesting people to build the water reservoirs. "Congratulations to the students. I appreciated them for their success to conduct community service together. In the future, the cooperation with community will continue," she said.
Now, KKN PPM students and DERU UGM Team continue monitoring the establishment of water divider tubs that are supplied to every resident’s home with the aim that everyone gets clean water.