The Early Semarang Clean Water Instalation.

The Reservoir Siranda on 1913 (source: semarang.nl)

Water, the essential resources fo human life. Water cant be separated from the human life needs. That’s why the Semarang society thoughts to gain the water as easy as possible from their own homes. So, the Dutch-Indie government decided to built a pipe to distribute the water from Ungaran Mountainous area to the city of Semarang. The problem isn’t stop yet, because the water still need a place to keep it before its distributed to every people who need it. Then, the Dutch-Indie government starting to build 2 reservoir at Candi plain on the south of Semarang, there are Reservoir Siranda and Reservoir Jomblang. All of them are erected on 1912.

The appearance of this 2 reservoir is same each other. A dome-shaped building with a copula tower above it. As the entrance, there are a partition forming a gate with an ornament of arrow as the ventilation. The gate were built geometrically with a wings of triangle shaped on the right and left sides of the gate. The dome, filled with grass, remembered us to the home of the teletubies on the TV series. The difference between Siranda Revoir and Jomblang reservoir its their location toward the main road. The Siranda reservoir was located on the edge of Diponegoro street, one’s of protocol street that connected the low plain area on the north to the high plain area on the south. Whereas the Jomblang reservoir was located on the hill near the dr.Wahidin street. A whole building cant be seen from the street, only the dome with copula tower above it has visible from the street. Thus why the Jomblang reservoir are not familiar as Siranda’s.

Siranda reservoir also become the noiseless eyewitness to the heroic struggle of semarang citizen against the Japanese colonization. Dr. Kariyadi, a notable doctor in Semarang on that time was shooted to die by the Japanese soldier when he want to checked the water quality at Siranda reservoir, because there are a rumours that the Japanese were poisoned the water.  The people’s angry and foughts against Japanese soldier. These unbalanced conflict resulting many victims. The conflict happened during 5 days and it ends after the Allied force evacuated the Japanese soldier, and draw the Republican militia out of Semarang city.

Nowadays, both of Siranda and Jomblang reservoir managed by the National Water’s Company (PDAM) of Semarang Region. Both of them also still supplied the water need’s to all of the Semarang citizen.