Water shortages in Indonesia: emergency water, safe drinking water at home and complaining to the water company

What to have ready

• Your full address (RT/RW, village or kelurahan, district) and roughly how many households or people are short of water.
• Your customer number and latest bill if you are a PDAM or PAM Jaya customer.
• Contact numbers for the village or kelurahan office, the regency or city BPBD and your local PDAM call centre.
• Clean containers with tight lids, such as lidded buckets, jerrycans or a water tank, and a dipper with a handle.
• A pan and fuel to boil drinking water.
• A note of the dates and times the water was off, and photos or videos if the water is cloudy or smells.

How to cope with a water shortage

1. Report the shortage early

   BNPB asks residents to tell the village government or BPBD as soon as their area starts struggling to get clean water, so that help is quick and well targeted. Urgent needs can also be passed directly to the local BPBD.

2. Follow the request route in your area

   In many areas the village or kelurahan sends a request for clean water to the regency or city BPBD office, and the BPBD then schedules deliveries. The procedure differs from place to place, so ask the village or kelurahan office or the BPBD. In Jakarta, the BPBD points residents to the Jakarta Siaga 112 service in an emergency.

3. PDAM customers: call the call centre

   If your piped water is off or cloudy, contact your PDAM’s call centre or customer service office and note the report number. PAM Jaya customers can call 1500 223, which runs 24 hours; during a supply disruption in June 2026, PAM Jaya had about 70 free tankers on standby that could be requested through that number.

4. Collect and store water safely

   Fill reserves while water is still available and keep it in clean containers that stay covered. Scoop water out with a dipper that has a handle rather than dipping your hands in. Covering and draining water containers also stops dengue mosquitoes from breeding.

5. Boil drinking water

   Bring water to a rolling boil, then let it cool on its own without adding ice and keep it in a covered container so it is not contaminated again. If the water is cloudy, let it settle or filter it first. According to WHO, a rolling boil is enough to kill the bacteria, viruses and protozoa that cause disease.

6. Save water and put basic needs first

   BNPB asks people in drought areas to use clean water wisely and put basic needs first, such as drinking, cooking and handwashing. BMKG also advises saving water and increasing household storage capacity during the dry season.

Cost of emergency water and complaints

Calls to the 112 emergency number, including Jakarta Siaga 112, are free under Communications Minister Regulation 14/2018. During the June 2026 disruption, PAM Jaya provided free water tankers to affected residents. We found no national rule on charges for clean-water help from a BPBD, so ask when you report; your usual costs are only storage containers and fuel for boiling water.

Under Government Regulation (PP) 122/2015 on drinking water supply systems, customers are entitled to drinking water that meets quality, quantity and continuity standards, and to information about tariffs, bills and special events that may affect the service. Customers must also pay their bills and use water sparingly.

Asking the BPBD for clean water

A BPBD (regional disaster management agency) is the local government body that handles disasters, including drought. Throughout the 2026 dry season, BNPB repeatedly asked residents to tell the village government or BPBD as soon as their area began struggling to get clean water, and asked local governments to make the most of clean-water deliveries to areas in crisis.

There is no national form for requesting water. In many areas, the village or kelurahan sends a request to the regency or city BPBD office; Rembang Regency, for example, asks villages that need clean water to submit a request to the BPBD office. Water usually arrives by tanker at an agreed collection point, so have your own containers ready.

In Jakarta, the BPBD asks residents to save clean water, keep reserves where needed, follow BMKG and BPBD updates and contact Jakarta Siaga 112 in an emergency. BMKG expects a long 2026 dry season because of a very strong El Niño, and advises households to increase their water storage capacity.

• BNPB: report to the village government or BPBD, 2 August 2026 (Indonesian) ↗
• Example: Rembang Regency on requesting clean water from the BPBD (Indonesian) ↗
• Berita Jakarta: Jakarta BPBD and Jakarta Siaga 112 ↗

PDAM water off or cloudy: your rights and how to complain

A PDAM or Perumda Air Minum is a regional government-owned company that supplies piped drinking water. PP 122/2015 requires regional water companies to guarantee a service that meets quality, quantity and continuity standards, to give information about special events that may affect the service, and to provide a complaints channel for customers and the public.

Start with your PDAM’s call centre, WhatsApp or customer service office, and keep the report number. In Jakarta, PAM Jaya lists call centre 1500 223, WhatsApp 0812-1222-2423, SMS 0816-725-952 and email customercare@pamjaya.co.id. During a supply disruption in June 2026, PAM Jaya kept about 70 free tankers on standby, prioritised for urgent household needs and public service facilities.

If your complaint is ignored, Article 64 of PP 122/2015 lets the public report or complain to the minister, governor or regent/mayor, depending on who is responsible, and the PDAM must follow up and report what it has done. You can use your local government’s complaints channel or SP4N-LAPOR!, the national public service complaints system.

• JDIH BPK: PP 122/2015 on drinking water supply systems (Indonesian) ↗
• PAM Jaya: customer service contacts (Indonesian) ↗
• Berita Jakarta: PAM Jaya free tankers during disruptions ↗

Treating and storing drinking water at home

The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) sets out household drinking water management as the third pillar of Community-Led Total Sanitation (STBM) in Health Minister Regulation 3/2014: managing drinking water and food at home to improve and protect the quality of water from its source. In Kemenkes usage, the abbreviation PKAM means drinking water quality surveillance by health officers, not a way to treat water at home.

Boiling is the most common method. According to WHO technical guidance, heating water to a rolling boil is enough to kill disease-causing bacteria, viruses and protozoa, even in cloudy water; the water should then cool naturally without ice and be protected from recontamination. Cloudy water is best cleared before boiling. WHO also lists filtration and chemical disinfection as proven methods; if you use them, follow the product instructions.

Kemenkes advises using water buckets with lids and a dipper with a handle, kept clean. Kemenkes’s 2020 household drinking water quality study found that 31% of households drink refilled water and that 7 in 10 households drink water contaminated with E. coli bacteria. If you buy refilled water, you can check whether the refill depot holds a Hygiene and Sanitation Certificate (SLHS) on the Kemenkes search portal.

• Health Minister Regulation 3/2014 on community-led total sanitation (Indonesian) ↗
• WHO: Boil water technical brief ↗
• Kemenkes: search for SLHS-certified water refill depots (Indonesian) ↗

Preventing waterborne illness

According to WHO, drinking water contaminated with germs can spread diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio. Kemenkes says clean water helps prevent diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, worms, skin disease and poisoning. In the dry season, shrinking water sources and dirty containers raise these risks.

Wash your hands with soap every time before eating or drinking and after going to the toilet, and boil drinking water every day. Cover and drain water containers regularly: WHO notes that covering water containers reduces mosquito breeding, and Kemenkes includes draining and covering water containers in its 3M Plus campaign.

Take someone to a health facility straight away if diarrhoea comes with signs of dehydration, especially in a child: a dry mouth and lips, sunken eyes, irritability or extreme tiredness, sleeping a lot or being hard to wake, and passing little or no urine. Go to A&E or call 119 if a child is hard to wake or keeps vomiting and cannot drink. How to give oral rehydration salts and other danger signs are covered in our rainy-season illness guide.

• WHO: Drinking-water fact sheet ↗
• Ayo Sehat Kemenkes: the benefits of clean water and keeping it clean (Indonesian) ↗
• Ayo Sehat Kemenkes: dehydration in children (Indonesian) ↗

Things to check carefully

Frequently asked questions