Dolok Tolong, Dairi · November 12, 2026
Dolok Tolong, Dairi: water run by its own community
Dolok Tolong Village sits in Sumbul District, Dairi Regency, in the mountains of North Sumatra. The land is hilly, which makes laying a drinking water network here hard work. Before the drinking water program began, the 230 households in the village had no proper access to drinking water.
Water at home since June 2025
An integrated piped system now carries safe drinking water right to people's homes. All 230 households have had it since 18 June 2025.
A water committee in charge
For us, the most encouraging thing about Dolok Tolong is how the community looks after its water. The Village Water Committee runs the system on its own. Every household that uses the water pays a monthly fee, set according to what operation and maintenance actually cost.
From that, the committee puts money aside in a maintenance fund for running costs, routine repairs and spare parts. There is also an emergency fund for sudden repairs or for extending the network later on. The accounts are open to every household that uses the water.
Fifteen families in Suka Jadi are still waiting
Not everyone is connected yet. Fifteen households in Suka Jadi, a hamlet that is still part of Dolok Tolong, are about 1,000 metres from the main pipeline and have been left out so far.
The people of Suka Jadi have already agreed to dig the trench together and to pay IDR 750,000 per household for their home connection materials. What they still need is a 15,000-litre tank, a kilometre of pipe, and the technical labour to install it.