Cikarang River Polluted: Residents Advised Not to Use Water for Daily Activities

Bekasi — The Bekasi Regency Health Department has advised residents of Kampung Cabang Pintu Air in Karangasih Village, North Cikarang Subdistrict, not to use the polluted river water for daily activities. The warning follows observations of blackened river water suspected to be contaminated by domestic waste and industrial activities in the area. Bekasi Regency Health Department Head Arief Kurnia stated that using the dirty river water could trigger various health issues, even though residents have not yet reported serious complaints. ‘Residents are advised not to use the river water for daily activities. The negative impacts are inevitable; it is only a matter of time,’ Arief said in a message to reporters on Tuesday, 26 May 2026. ‘Please use clean water as needed,’ he added. Meanwhile, Bekasi Regency Environment Department Spokesperson Dedi Kurniawan said the river flow in Kampung Cabang Pintu Air is regularly cleaned weekly by local UPTD officials. ‘At PNR gate, we regularly clean debris from UPTD Region 4. We do this almost every week,’ Dedi said. However, he noted that the pollution problem is not as simple as just removing trash, as contamination sources come from multiple sectors. According to Dedi, the river’s condition began deteriorating when the area became densely populated with residential and industrial developments in the early 2000s. ‘By 2004, there were many housing estates and industries discharging directly into the river,’ he said. He explained that household wastewater is a major cause of the water turning black. ‘From dishwashing, rice water, everything flows directly into the river. That’s why it turns black and murky,’ Dedi said. ‘The industrial sector is regularly monitored for wastewater quality standards, but the pollution sources are more complex than that,’ he added.