Universitas Brawijaya (UB) through Doktor Mengabdi  (DM) Program carried out community service activities at Pondok Pesantren (Ponpes, Islamic Boarding School) Nabawi Maftahul Uluum, Tuliskriyo Village, Sanankulon District, Blitar Regency on Sunday, September 6, 2020.

Chaired by Zainul Abidin, ST., MT., M.Eng., Ph.D. (Faculty of Engineering) together with Eka Maulana, ST., MT., M.Eng. (Faculty of Engineering) and Prof. Dr. Warsito, MS (FMIPA), the team provided a Reverse Osmosis (RO) drinking water treatment installation along with operational and maintenance training for residents in the Ponpes.

Two intern students from Electrical Engineering UB are also involved in the integration of the drinking water treatment equipment with digital monitoring.

This Ponpes accommodates more than 500 students, consisting of 170 junior high students, 260 high school students, 120 madrasah diniyah and tahfidz Al-Qur’an madrasah.

“With a large number of students, the need for clean drinking water is very high, especially the location tends to have hot weather,” said Zainul Ph.D when interviewed this afternoon, (8/Sep/2020).

However, he added, with the low cost of the ponpes, the caretaker, Kyai Deskof Zakaria yearns to reduce the operational costs by having his own drinking water processing equipment for the needs of the boarding school residents..

During its development, the caretakers and several boarding school residents expressed their hope that this healthy drinking water based on RO and bio-energy could be commercialized to support the economy of the boarding school.

“The health of the hafiz (memorizers of the Al-Qur’an) pushed me and the DM Team to provide solutions to the healthy water problem, in this case, by donating, providing operational training, and maintaining RO drinking water processing equipment with well water,” explained Zainul PhD.

To realize this drinking water processing equipment, the DM Team is working with experts who have been in the field of drinking water installation for years. The team wants to ensure that the technology used is safe and can support the health of the boarding school residents.

“In this drinking water treatment installation, the DM Team was not alone, but was supported by expert, Wandi Yuwono, A.Md., who could answer the criteria we set,” added the lecturer of the Electrical Engineering Department.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the DM Team also convey the importance of implementing health protocols and support them by giving out soap for washing hands.

“On the first visit, we gave a number of hand washing soap to the students who came in and out of the lodge. Especially for students who will enter the class,” he said.

The team also socializes how drinking clean water will greatly affect their health. If before processing the TDS (Total Dissolved Solid, the amount of metal solids dissolved in water) of the well water around Ponpres is around 250ppm, after processing it drops to 12-13 ppm.

“Previously, the students so used to drinking well water directly. Then we show that with the tools, the water will be safer for consumption,” explained the lecturer who graduated from Miyazaki University.

From the first visit last July, to the equipment operational training last Sunday, the team always communicated with local residents, especially the board of the boarding school.

Based on the interviews and questionnaires, most of them expected the sustainability of this program. Specifically, one of the boarding school residents expected training and realization of Bottled Drinking Water (AMDK) packaging. (mic)