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urakarta’s city-owned water company, PDAM Surakarta, has struggled to provide the Central Java city with clean water for the past two weeks with the city’s waterways running dry or becoming tainted by factory waste.

The water company has ceased the operation of two of its water treatment plants, which rely on the Bengawan Solo River, the longest river in Java, and its streams, as its main source of raw water, forcing residents to buy water cooler bottles as an alternative.

In response, PDAM Surakarta has sent water tank trucks to the affected areas in Jebres district, namely Pucangsawit, Sangkrah, Jagalan, Ngoresan and Mojosongo subdistricts, to cater to local residents’ needs.

However, as of Sunday, the water tanks distributed by the company were proving insufficient.

“On Friday, we dropped off 30 tanks of clean water, and now on Sunday 50 tanks. Each tank has a capacity of 6,000 liters,” said PDAM Surakarta spokesperson Bayu Tunggul.

“But no permanent solution has been found since the treatment plants ceased operation.”

He said the company had received complaints from residents about the stench and yellow color of their tap water, adding that it was becoming more difficult to treat the water as the river receded during the dry season.

“Water sources for Jurug and Jebres water plants are contaminated with textile waste dumped into Samin Stream in Sukoharjo. Many factories dump their waste into the river. We have reported the issue to the mayor,” Bayu said, referring to Samin Stream, one of the Bengawan Solo’s tributaries.

The Bengawan Solo is among 15 major rivers, six of which are in Java, that have been identified as major concerns in the government’s 2015-2019 scheme to revitalize rivers and river basin areas plagued by environmental damages and pollution.

Bayu said the dry season and pollution had been recurring problems, but that this year had been the worst, causing water treatment plants to cease operations.

“Until now, 30 percent of our 59,000 customers are still without clean water supplies,” he said.

Sayekti, who lives in Jebres district, said his family had started to buy water cooler bottles for daily use.

“More daily expenses [to buy packaged water]. [PDAM Surakarta] doesn’t send water [trucks] every day, while we need it to cook, bathe and drink,” he said.

Sayekti expressed hope the water firm could solve the problem soon, adding that otherwise the consequences would be harmful for many low-income residents in the area.

Wijiyatmi, 52, another Jebres resident said that since the drought hit the region, her family had started to buy four water cooler bottles each day, costing them at least Rp 24,000 (US$1.60) a day.

“I choose non-branded bottled water [from a small-scale water refill depot] because it is cheap,” Wijiyatmi said.

Aside from the Bengawan Solo and the Samin, Surakarta also gets its water supply from the Cokro Well in Tulung district, located in the nearby regency of Klaten.

“We are trying to revive a deep well in the Pedaringan area, in eastern Surakarta,” said Bayu.