Jenny Grant, Samarinda – Towns and villages in East Kalimantan province are suffering a severe water crisis, with river levels drastically lowered by drought and fire-fighting.
The low level of the capital Samarinda's main Mahakam River has made water from it unfit for people to drink.
The river has dropped three metres in the town and seawater has intruded 60 kilometres upstream, raising the salt content.
"Because of the fires and the drought, there is no water feeding into the river, so there is no fresh water to push out the salty water," said Abrianto Amin, director of the Indonesian Environment Forum's local branch.
Health workers in Samarinda warned of a widespread outbreak of diarrhoea in the coming weeks as residents picked up infections from dirty water.
Samarinda, a town of 400,000 people, ran out of running water three days ago.
The only way to wash, cook or drink for most residents is to buy bottled water.
Water sellers on the streets are doing a brisk trade in the midst of a countrywide recession.
Men pull carts laden with cans of water through the dusty town while mothers carry pails of water from communal wells that are running low.
Plastic water tanks carrying 1,000 litres sell for 12,000 rupiah (HK$12), while 25-litre jerrycans of 25 litres of water sell for 500 rupiah.
Most people earn about 4,000 rupiah a day, and with the price of rice and cooking oil rising almost daily, buying water is an expense they can ill afford.
Wood collector Handoko, 82, said he had to walk across two hills on the outskirts of town for his water supply.
"It's at least a two-kilometre walk to the nearest stream," said the Javanese migrant who moved to Samarinda eight years ago.
In the village of Sangkimah, where salt has also polluted the main river, residents have to travel 8 km to the neighbouring state-owned Pertamina gas estate to buy fresh water. Bushfires ring the village and there has been no rain for five months.
"There is usually a harvest every August but this year there will be no harvest," said Hawa, who sells palm leaves for roof thatching.
The story is the same in Teluk Pandang, 30 km away, where farmers say they cannot get enough water for their market gardens.
"Rice here is 2,300 rupiah a kilo, but last year it was only 1,000 rupiah. We are just hoping the people in Jakarta send us rice," said 53-year-old Fatima.
A contractor building a road through the village delivers a 5,000-litre drum of dirty drinking water every three days.
"It's free because they know we're having a tough time, but it's still not enough and we have to ration the water," said cacao farmer Sinar, one of 2,000 residents of the Teluk Pandang area.