PDAM PR head Soenarso said the first rains of the season had gathered with it all the accumulated dirt from the dry season, thus significantly darkening the river water.

"We've recorded a BOD *biochemical oxygen demand* of between 6 and 8 PPM *parts per million*, while the maximum allowable level is 2 PPM," he said.

To reduce the pollution, he went on, the company was carrying out several measures, including adding active carbon and chlorine in the filtration process to get the water to meet existing standards.

Soenarso said the PDAM could do nothing except hope that all the stakeholders in downstream areas, especially factories, did not arbitrarily dispose of their waste in the river.

"They must process it before disposing of it in the river," he said.

PDAM Surabaya supplies between 21 and 22 million cubic meters of clean water to 398,000 homes and offices, or an estimated 1.7 million people in the East Java capital and surrounding areas.

Ninety-six percent of the company's unprocessed water comes from the Surabaya River.

Concerns over pollution are always raised during the transitional period. Last year, the PDAM even suggested customers not drink the water it supplied due to the high level of pollution in the river.

The PDAM said it has filed a protest against river management company Perum Jasa Tirta over the pollution, especially because it had to pay Rp 1.5 billion a month for 22 million cubic meters of unfiltered water from the river.

Perum Jasa Tirta head Widyo Parwanto said his company would try its best to provide better-quality water this year.

"We've been closely monitoring the factories through routine patrols and checks on water quality," he said.

"Yet every time the first rains begin to fall, they start flushing their waste into the river as its flow rate picks up."

Prigi Arisandi, director of the center for wetland and ecological studies (Ecoton), warned the pollution in the Surabaya River would only keep getting worse.

Declaring a status for the river, he added, would end that and also set a clear standard for pollutants.

A study conducted by Ecoton showed the Surabaya River was capable of "conducting self-purification for 30 tons of solid and liquid pollutants a day", Prigi said.

The river currently receives 75 tons of pollutants a day, most of it from more than 60 factories along its banks.

Prigi urged the provincial administration to take action against polluters and assign a clear classification for the river.

"It must apply special regulations to the factories along the riverbanks, or even relocate them," he said.

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