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Jakarta. Water contaminated by feces and harmful chemicals may be responsible for making almost half of all Indonesians sick, health experts say.

World Bank data shows that in 2006, 42 percent of Indonesians suffered from diarrhea caused by waterborne diseases, up from 28 percent in 1996.

A study two years ago by the Ministry of Health showed that in addition to bacteria that cause the more common infectious diseases, many of Indonesia’s sources of water also contained unacceptably high levels of toxic chemicals that could lead to more serious illnesses such as cancer and anemia.

“In 2008, 100 percent of the water samples that we took from around Jakarta tested positive for coliform bacteria,” Budi Haryanto, a University of Indonesia told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.

“Fifty percent of water samples from Bekasi and 26 percent from Cilegon also proved to be contaminated with the same thing.

“With conditions like these, no one is safe from waterborne diseases such as diarrhea.”

Besides the lack of clean water, the high rate of diarrhea is also exacerbated by people’s general reluctance to seek early medical attention, Budi said.

“The number of cases increases every year, and is especially high during the rainy season, when floods hit much of the country,” he said.

“Many people who suffer from diarrhea eventually die because they only go to the hospital or community health center once they’re already suffering from acute dehydration.”

He added the fatality rate from diarrhea had more than doubled between 2006 and 2007, going to 5.5 percent from 2.5 percent.

In addition, 2006 also saw an unusually wide spread of the infectious disease, with 16 of the country’s 33 provinces reporting diarrhea epidemics.

Meanwhile, a University of Indonesia study in 2008 showed only 24 percent of Indonesians had access to potable water.

However, Budi said the true figure could be far smaller because many drinking water depots were contaminated with bacteria.

In the Pancoran Mas subdistrict of Depok, 43 percent of all such depots had traces of E. coli bacteria, Budi found through his research in 2004.

“Most water sources in Indonesia are contaminated with human feces,” he said. “This is reflected in the number of cases of diarrhea, which is caused mainly by contact with fecal matter.”

However, Budi said the most dangerous contaminants in drinking water were toxic chemicals discharged by factories.

“As the concentration of the chemicals builds up in a person’s body over five to 30 years, that person risks suffering from hypertension, gastritis, acute anemia and even cancer,” he said, adding that lead and mercury were the most common contaminants.

Another less common element is arsenic, which Budi said was carcinogenic and particularly dangerous because it was odorless and colorless.

Separately, Ratih Dewanti Hariyadi, a food technology expert from the Bogor Institute of Technology, said the risk of infection could be eliminated with a simple precaution.

“We can ensure that we minimize the risk of getting diarrhea by boiling the water before drinking it,” she said.

She also said the high amount of fecal matter in Jakarta’s water supply was due to the fact that groundwater wells from which most people drew their water were built too close to their septic tanks.