Forced to Use Murky Bekasi Canal Water, Residents Say They Cannot Afford Clean Water

BEKASI, KOMPAS.com - Lulu Tri Rahayu (38), a resident living on the floodplain of the river in Kampung Cabang Pintu Air, Bekasi, said people are forced to use murky canal water because they have no access to clean water. ‘There’s no clean water here. So we use canal water to wash dishes, clothes, bathe, and to urinate. If we drink, we buy bottled water,’ Lulu told Kompas.com at the location on Friday, 22 May 2026.

Earlier, a video posted by a foreign environmental cleanliness activist with the Instagram account @sambencheghib went viral on social media. The footage shows volunteers and sanitation workers cleaning up litter along the canal flow in Kampung Cabang Pintu Air, Desa Karangasih, Kecamatan Cikarang Utara, Kabupaten Bekasi.

The post elicited various comments from netizens highlighting the environmental conditions and the fact that residents still use canal water for daily needs. The house where she lives sits on land owned by Perum Jasa Tirta (PJT) or irrigation authorities. According to her, some residents no longer have water pumps. ‘Residents here have stopped having water pumps. A while ago, the buildings here were going to be evicted. So the pumps were cut,’ she said. ‘Here people usually wash from morning to afternoon,’ she added. Although the water is often murky and full of trash, Lulu says she has grown accustomed to using canal water for household needs. ‘People here are used to it. Although sometimes the water looks like sewage, very black. This is because they just cleaned it yesterday, so it looks clean. Usually there are a lot of water hyacinths.’