Twisting and turning through the jungles of Java is a river so polluted it’ll make your
skin melt. On this episode we bring you the world’s dirtiest river.
Located east of Jakarta, being the 3rd biggest river on the island of Java, the Citarum river
has claimed the top spot as earth’s most polluted. Covering an area of 5,000 sq miles
or 13,000 sq kms the water from the Citarum river is relied upon by 30 million residents.
5% of the river’s water is needed for 2000 industrial factories and irrigation for rice
farms. 80% of the surface water is used by the citizens of the nearby capital city Jakarta.
Despite needing this natural resource, the river is so dirty on some parts you can’t
even see the water just garbage. Among the trash are decomposing animals which further
increase the health risks of this river. Now how did things get so bad for the Citarum
river?
Bandung Regency an area in west Java went through rapid industrialization in the 1980s
creating what it is today, the epicenter of textile production in the region. The textile
sector has devastating effects on the environment with the water quality being at the top of
the list. With Bandung Regency being one of the top 10 textile and clothing producers
on the planet with 12.7 billion in exports and employing 3 million workers among different
corporations only stringent standards and regulations would keep the river clean. Extreme
lack of policy has resulted in only 264 chemicals being regulated out of over 100,000 used in
the textile industry. Corrupt regulations inspectors, illegal dumping, and limited regulation
of discharged wastewater has destroyed what was once a pristine river. Having no fear
of punishment factories built along the river have had no need to innovate the design of
their facilities with green technologies.
With over 200 textile factories on the river banks of the Citarum river, 20,000 tons of
waste and 340,000 tons of wastewater are dumped daily. The toxic chemicals dumped into the
Citarum have actually changed the color of the river in some parts. It has become contaminated
with lead, aluminum, iron and manganese. Many who live and work around the river suffer
from skin diseases, rashes, infections, scabs, respiratory problems not to mention all the
problems down the road from crops grown with water from the river. The Citarum river has
shown dangerous levels of alkalinity in wastewater upwards of ph levels of 14 which is able to
burn through human skin making it almost like acid. It is said by locals that even a simple
splash of water on the face will cause it to burn and itch for a week. Lead contamination
has been tested at extreme levels, over 25,000 times higher than recommended which is present
in water used by over ½ a million people. Not only affecting humanity, high levels of
nonylphenol has been detected which is toxic to marine life. The contamination is wiping
out all the fish leaving fisherman starving without income or food. The past 5 years has
seen a shift for all fisherman switching to new careers as there are no fish left in the
river. Some become garbage pickers trying to find valuables among the trash.
The industrial chemicals and waste has affected 2300 acres of rice fields contaminating them
with heavy metals and losing over 866 million dollars of food production over the past 2
decades. In defiance some residents, who’ve lost hope in the government, find factory
drain pipes and plug them in an effort to flood the factory shutting down production
and causing damage. Recently President Joko declared a seven year Citarum cleansing program
to make the Citarum drinkable again by 2025. 500 million dollars has been put forward in
this initiative. Along with cleaning 22 sections of the 186 mile or 300 km long river, mass
amounts of reforestation will take place. 125 million trees will be planted in a effort
to help reduce the flooding that happens caused by clogs of garbage. The idea is once the
river is clean, less money will have to be spent on flood recovery, the farms will be
much more productive generating 280 million annually and draw in tourism to riverside
resorts and property. By removing the garbage maintenance on the three hydroelectric power
stations will be reduced as well.
While it seems the government has started to wake up to the serious problem at hand
it’ll take more than the average river cleanup to get the Citarum back to its former glory.
It’s also worth noting in my research I learned while difficult to know what quality
of facility your clothing is produced in when buying a new pair of pants or shirt many of
the toxic chemicals used in clothing production stays on the clothes after they are completed
and will only be removed after a handful of washes through the washing machine.
Are you shocked by how polluted the Citarum river got before anything was done or is this
something sadly we see all too often throughout the world? Share your thoughts down below.
I hope you found episode interesting, consider subscribing and until the next one have a
good one.