Water Quality from the Karaa Spring and Its Preservation Efforts

Abstract

The condition of the Karaa spring located in Kantalai Village, Lealea Subdistrict, Baubau City, has now experienced a decrease in water discharge due to various forest encroachment activities around the mountains and along the river flow and the conversion of forest functions into community gardens. Physically, it can be seen that during the rainy season the water in the Karaa springs influences the water clarity level. In order to be able to be used to fulfill community water needs, especially drinking water must meet water quality from chemical, physical and biological parameters. This study aims to determine the condition and level of quality of Karaa springs from chemical, physical and biological parameters. The method used in this study was a direct survey to the source of the Kara Springs to determine the environmental conditions and experimental methods to determine water quality. Measuring the acidity parameters of water samples is carried out in the field (in situ), using a set of Teskit tools including parameters of temperature, DO, and pH while turbidity, color, BOD, COD, microorganisms, and heavy metal parameters are carried out externally. For the status of water quality, the storet method is used, namely comparing the quality of the water of Karaa Tear with the water quality standard adjusted to Permen No. 82 of 2001 concerning Water Quality Management and Water Pollution Control. The results showed that the condition of the location around Mata Air Karaa was in an unfavorable condition and needed efforts to handle various parties in order to be sustainable and sustainable. The quality of the Mata Air Karaa sources both physically, chemically, and biologically fulfills healthy raw water quality requirements. Comparison of the amount of available water capacity is quite large and can serve the clean water needs of the people of Baubau, but the management by the PDAM is not optimal.