Water is an essential element to sustain life on earth. Nevertheless, it seems that several areas do not yet have adequate water sources, one of which is Gunungkidul Regency, which has been repeatedly hit by water shortages. Most recently, data from the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) and the Gunungkidul Information and Documentation Management Officer (PPID) show that in 2021 water drought will affect 16 sub-districts and threaten the livelihoods of more than 127,000 Gunungkidul residents. Against this background, the PKM-Constructive Idea Video Team (PKM-VGK) of Orogensys University of Indonesia, which consists of three FMIPA UI students, namely Yudha Adi Putra (Geophysics 2020), Ralfy Ruben Rialdi (Geophysics 2020), Rizka Destiana Novani (Geology 2020) , and two FT UI students, Matthew Aristotheo (Mechanical Engineering 2020), and Andika Faishal Aziz (Mechanical Engineering 2020) initiated and visualized the idea of an environmentally friendly fog catcher to contribute to maximizing potential while ending the water shortage problem that haunts Gunungkidul Regency. When asked about the origin of the name orogensys, the team guided by Dr. Retno Lestari, M.Sc., said that they embedded the geological term “orogen” which means “mountains” in Indonesian, and “sys” which is short for “system”.
The orogensys innovation sees great potential in Gunungkidul Regency, namely the highlands and agricultural straw waste in the region. As the name implies, orogensys offers a water supply system using an alternative source of mist, and its construction is made from straw waste which can capture water well. In addition, orogensys also has broad flexibility and versatility, for example as a means of education, recreation, and others. “We started planning orogensys in March 2022 by collecting literature studies and analyzing problems in Gunungkidul Regency and sustainable solutions that are able to answer these problems,” said Yudha as head of the VGK UI PKM team when asked where this idea came from. “When we traced it, the difficulty of water in Gunungkidul Regency boils down to geological conditions. The predominant type of carbonate rock makes the water aquifers too deep, making it difficult for residents to use groundwater,” he continued. Theo added that straw waste has high strength and fog absorption ability.
Orogensys needs to go through several stages in order to be widely applied. The first phase includes further research to perfect the Orogensys blueprint, which is followed by the Pilot Project stage in Natah Village, one of the villages with a high drought rate in Gunungkidul, and ends with the mass production and implementation stages. The hope is that orogensys can help provide water not only for Gunungkidul, but also for other areas affected by similar problems. This is in line with sustainable development goals (SDGs) number 6. “We hope that orogensys can provide hope for residents over water difficulties that threaten the livelihoods of Gunungkidul residents while at the same time showing that Indonesia has local potentials to solve global issues,” said Ruben.
Author: Tim PKM-VGK (FMIPA UI)
