ID Nugroho, Sidoarjo – Residents in Sidoarjo, East Java, have reported that pollution from the mudflow has left the water in their wells unfit for consumption.

Residents say they can only use the water for cleaning, and have to purchase water for drinking and cooking.

Pollution is particularly bad in Pajarakan Selatan village, across from where Lapindo Brantas Inc., the company at the center of the disaster, has installed pumps to channel mud into Porong River, which flows to the Madura Strait.

Villagers blame the pollution on the dumping of mud into the river.

"Before the river was used to dump the mud, the water source in our village was nothing like this. Now, the river no longer flows due to mud deposits, and our water source has turned smelly and murky," said Pajarakan Selatan villager Musholi, 40.

He said people now had to buy all their drinking water. "Previously, we only bought potable water during the dry season, but now my family has to buy it almost every day," he said.

Each family in Pajarakan Selatan spends an average of Rp 1,000 (11 US cents) daily on water, or Rp 30,000 monthly, a significant amount since most residents make a living as farmers and factory laborers.

Villagers are also concerned by the risk of floods during the rainy season due to the mud-clogged Porong River.

The river has badly silted up since mud began to be channeled into the waterway about a year ago. Sedimentation has created island-shaped masses in the middle of the river.

"Residents in Pajarakan Selatan are afraid that when the rainy season arrives, the river will be unable to hold water and overflow to residential areas, causing major flooding," resident Sholihin told The Jakarta Post.

"See for yourselves. It's the dry season and the water cannot flow, so what's going to happen in the rainy season?"