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The production of batik by small and medium enterprises in Central Java, Indonesia, has been reported to create environmental problem, particularly in the form of surface water pollution in some batik centres. Pollution which is related to the use of synthetic dyes has been considered to show adverse impact to the environment and community, and this situation has triggered to the use of natural dyes as the latter is considered to be eco-friendly. However, the use of natural dye extract could contribute to the consumptive water use, as the fabric should be immersed into the extract repetitively, and this could make up to the high of Blue Water Footprint. This study aims to examine the Blue Water Footprint (BWF) of batik production coloured by natural dye extract of Myrobalan (Terminalia bellirica Roxb.). The research was conducted through experiment and observation in a large-scaled batik home industry in Jarum village, Klaten. An experiment was designed by preparing white cotton clothes of 2.00 m x 1.15 m in size which has been block-printed in the same motif. A natural dye extract of Myrobalan was applied onto the clothes, with alum and copperas as the mordants. Water usage during dyeing process as well as other processes were observed and calculated. The result showed that the type of mordants influence the colours resulted on the block-printed batik clothes. The Blue Water Footprint of block-printed batik of both treatments were in the range of 156.48 – 158.70 L/pc or equal to 68.52 L/m² of fabric, on average. Surprisingly, it was the dewaxing process which contributes the biggest portion of the Blue Water Footprint, and therefore the water sustainability of natural-coloured batik is questionable. Some efforts to increase the efficiency of water is required by promoting awareness of batik artisan, as well as treat the wastewater and implementing cleaner production.

Home industry; Block-printed batik; Blue water footprint; Mordant; Terminalia bellirica Roxb.