Water pollution is one of the most concerning challenges in the world today. It has threatened the lives of animals on land and water and humans who depend on the polluted water sources (Douglas, 2010). For instance, the increasing water pollution trend has led to the extinction of native species of fish. One of the reasons contributing to this problem is the dumping of wastewater directly into the river by the textile industries (Image 1). In other words, people will act selfishly to manufacture their clothes and fashion products but will not take responsibility for causing harm to the environment (Douglas, 2010). The film producer Martin Boudot created a documentary called “The World Most Polluted River” in 2020 to present how human beings through five hundred textile industries have polluted the Citarum River systematically (Martin, 2020). Additionally, the producer reveals the identity of people and animals to demonstrate how animals suffer from the impacts of water pollution, especially from the textile industries. This essay will firstly analyze how Martin Boudot visualizes the issue of water pollution. It will then explain the intensity of the water pollution crisis based on the setting of the film and demonstrate measures that can be implemented to address the pollution issue and advocate for sustainable living.

The film focuses on the areas around the highly polluted Citarum River in Indonesia. It focuses on plastic and mainly chemical pollution by textile factories such as H&M that dump untreated wastewater into the river (Martin, 2020; Image 1). The film exposes the effects of the contaminated water on the local people who have been compelled by circumstances to depend on the river’s water for survival. They use it for drinking, bathing, washing utensils, irrigation, and any other activities requiring water use. According to Douglas (2010), water pollution problems occur because communities feel no responsibility to act and lack knowledge maintenance of the water systems. It is not because they have inadequate technology. The film also focuses on the types of chemicals found in the water, and the producer takes samples for chemical testing. The expose shows the results found about the chemicals that existed in the water were alarming. The laboratory results were forwarded to various authorities that dealt with environmental conservation in the government. The film shows how fish and other animals have died in the water after being exposed to high concentrations of chemicals such as Lead and Mercury (Martin, 2020).

The movie was filmed in 2020 and provides current reports on the state of pollution of the Citarum River, located in Indonesia. The government policies on wastewater regulations were exposed as weak and poorly implemented. Additionally, the government had not included Lead in its list of prohibited chemicals despite the dangers it posed to its residents. According to Belinawati et al. (2018), the Citarum Bestari Program is the policy put in place by the West Java Government to handle Citarum challenges. The environmental department was not aware of the urgency in the state of pollution of River Citarum. The 3 million residents of Java and Bali depend on the water for use at home. However, it has caused a health crisis associated with the consumption of the chemically polluted Citarum River’s water. Children, in particular, have been affected the most, leading to 200,000 deaths annually (Owa, 2014). The people mainly practice agriculture, such as rice farming. Fishing in the river has ceased after the fish died. Lipscomb and Mobarak (2011) explain that for every kilometer downstream of a polluted river, Biochemical oxygen demand increases by 1.5 to 3%. Therefore, water pollution is a significant problem in the area thereby prompting the film’s theme to establish whether the Citarum can still be saved (Image 2).

The film analyzes the people affected by chemical pollution from River Citarum. It focuses on the effects of chemical exposure on the health of the residents, who depend on the water for domestic use. Zeitoun et al. (2014) affirms that both the surface and groundwater sources can become contaminated with different contaminants such as toxic trace metals. Additionally, the film majors on the textile factories that release untreated chemical waste into the water, the type of chemicals they release, their health effects, and the efforts they have put in place to address the situation. The analysis indicated that the chemical found were Lead, Mercury, Chromium, Assonates, Nitrates, Ammonium, and Chlorides (Martin, 2020; Image 3). For instance, one of the reports stated that Lead concentration on the paddy plants was 29.03 milligram per kilogram while the recommended standard was 0.25 milligram per kilogram (Kumar and Lee, 2012). This amount of Lead exposure affects the nervous system of those who consume it. According to Schwarzenbach et al. (2010), chemical pollution is caused by toxic metalloids, metals, and synthetic organic chemicals. Therefore, it proves why the residents around the area were often sick with chest problems and diarrhea. The government and textile regulation bodies avoided addressing the issue in fear of losing the textile factory investors and closing the factories.

In conclusion, the media has their investigative methods to highlight the problem of pollution to the general public. In Martin Boudot’s documentary “The World Most Polluted River,” the producer uses an investigative approach to analyze the waters of River Citarum, and he exposes the high levels of chemical pollution textile factories have caused in the river. He uses sample participants to indicate the health effects of the chemical exposure on water sources used by human beings and animals. The film set is based on the river Citarum, some textile factories near it, and targeted in the film. It also includes the regulatory bodies supposed to account for the pollution. Water pollution can be addressed by introducing stricter regulatory frameworks that will prompt textile industries to install effective water treatment plants to reduce the dumping of polluted wastewater (Image 1). My final thought is that the treatment technologies such as coagulation, dialysis, membrane process, foam flotation, adsorption, and photocatalytic degradation can help remove toxic waste. Furthermore, the introduction of environmental education can help curb water pollution. The government should strengthen the environmental regulatory bodies to increase the rates of chemical testing and reporting for further legal action in case of pollution.

Reference

Belinawati, R.A.P., Soesilo, T.E.B., Asteria, D., and Harmain, R., 2018. Sustainability: Citarum River, government role on the face of SDGs (water and sanitation). In E3S Web of Conferences (Vol. 52, p. 00038). EDP Sciences.

Douglas, C., 2010. Applying The Theories of Sustainable Water Aid. Colorado State University. PP. 1-147.

Martin, B. (2020). The World’s Most Polluted River. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEHOlmcJAEk (Accessed: May 14, 2021).

Kumar R., D.H. and Lee, S.M., 2012. Water pollution and treatment technologies. J Environ Anal Toxicol, 2, pp. 1-3.

Lipscomb, M. and Mobarak, A.M., 2011. Decentralization and the political economy of water pollution: Evidence from the re-drawing of county borders in Brazil. Review of Economics Studies, forthcoming, pp. 1-57

Owa, F.W., 2014. Water pollution: sources, effects, control, and management. International Letters of Natural Sciences, 3, pp. 1-6.

Schwarzenbach, R.P., Egli, T., Hofstetter, T.B., Von Gunten, U. and Wehrli, B., 2010. Global water pollution and human health. Annual review of environment and resources, 35, pp. 109-136.

Zeitoun, M.M. and Mehana, E.E., 2014. Impact of water pollution with heavy metals on fish health: overview and updates. Global Veterinarian, 12(2), pp. 1-13.