During the competition, participants were challenged to solve flood problem that occurs regularly on Jodipan Village, Malang, East Java. Flood that occurred on the riverbanks is caused by excessive domestic garbage and waste that fill up Brantas River area around Jodipan Village. Participants was therefore challenged to give effective, long-term applicable solution to prevent the same problem to occur.

In order to process the waste, Amreta Naraya Team suggested a solution, bio-filter. The filter contains biological agents able to process waste simultaneously through both aerobic and anaerobic processes. Processed waste is then channeled to wetlands spread along the channel. Successful waste degradation is indicated by BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) and TSS (Total Suspended Solid) measurement. BOD is a parameter that indicates the oxygen needed by the bacteria to decompose organic matters in wastewater, while TSS is a parameter that indicates suspended matters in the waste. The result showed that the BOD and TSS of the waste coming out of this bio-filter meet the standard quality. The parameters showed even better result after the waste passed the wetlands, meaning the resulted clean water could be re-routed to the river body.

Amreta Naraya Team then suggested some technical and non-technical attempts as solution to the problem. The technical attempt suggested is retention basin—a basin built to temporarily absorb water—at the end of Brantas river bank. “In a large flood discharge, the water will naturally go to the retention basin without the need to pump,” explained Reksa in an interview on Sunday (07/05/17) at ITB Dormitory Jatinangor.

Besides the aforementioned technical attempt, Amreta Naraya Team also suggested some non-technical attempts which consist of: (1) community empowerment system, (2) improvement of water aesthetic, (3) river clean-up program, (4) community appreciation, and (5) law enforcement around the river bank. Combination between these technical and non-technical attempts could serve as the solution to three problems simultaneously, namely illegal settlements on river bank, domestic waste dumped to the river, and regular flood discharge at Jodipan Village. The team managed to come out as the champion.

In an interview, Reksa (TPSDA 2013) recounted the memorable struggle of his team during their participation in the competition. “We made the proposal during midterm exam and the competition final was during our final exam,” said Reksa. “We went back to Bandung with morning flight, arrived at Jatinangor, and after the Friday prayer we took our exam,” said Reksa who took his exam right after returning from Malang. The final of KBAI 2017 was held from 1-4 May 2017 while the final exam began from 1 May 2017. Despite the struggle, the title of champion and best model surely become nice souvenirs and additional motivation to the three members of the team in facing their final exam.