Batam Water Shortages Test Data Centre Supply Plans
Residents report outages near Nongsa Digital Park; officials cite drought and an electrical fault while requiring data centres to build desalination systems.
Water shortages near Batam’s Nongsa Digital Park are putting a practical question before Indonesia’s growing data-centre industry: how will new computing facilities secure water without adding to pressure on households? AFP reported on 8 November that residents had protested supply interruptions near the development. The report does not establish that data centres caused the outages.
Air Batam Hilir, the local water utility, told AFP that a prolonged dry spell had lowered the Nongsa Reservoir and that an electrical fault had further disrupted distribution. AFP cited an industry source saying Nongsa Digital Park draws from the separate Duriangkang Reservoir. Batam’s mayor also attributed recent supply problems to weather and climate factors, rather than to data-centre investment.
Residents interviewed by AFP described difficulty with everyday water use and questioned how the technology cluster could expand while nearby communities face interruptions. Their concerns make the distinction between current water use and planned future demand important for operators, regulators and residents.
BP Batam said in September that data-centre investors must build their own seawater desalination systems, known as sea-water reverse osmosis, for operational needs. Its stated aim is to keep industrial growth from drawing on the reservoirs serving households. That is a policy requirement, not proof that every planned facility already has a working independent supply.
The infrastructure response is taking shape. On 5 November, BP Batam announced the start of a Citramas Group desalination project in Kabil. Its first phase is designed for 300 litres per second, with operations targeted for November 2027; a second 400-litre-per-second phase is planned. Those capacities remain future plans.
For Batam’s data-centre developers, the immediate test is whether independent water infrastructure arrives alongside computing capacity. For residents, the test is whether household supply becomes reliable while that construction proceeds.
