Malaysia: Authorities Push to Save Water in Selangor

Shah Alam, Malaysia: The message that water is a precious commodity and needs to be conserved is the one that Malaysian water authorities are pushing hard in the western state of Selangor.


Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya Water Association vice-president Datuk Muhamad Azaham Abdul Wahab told participants in a World Water Day celebration last week that simple tasks such as preventing leakages from taps and washing machines would not only preserve water and help the environment, but also cut down on users' monthly water bills.

He emphasized that the message should be heeded by water users in both rural and urban areas of the state.

“We are concerned that a lot of treated water is lost around the home due to leaking pipes and dripping taps,” he said at the World Water Day festivities held in the central city of Shah Alam.

“It may not seem much but it adds up and the owner of the house ends up forking out extra for the monthly bill.”

“On average, a person uses about 200 liters of water per day, of which five to 10 liters is for basic things like drinking and food preparation,” he added.

Explaining that one "slow, dripping tap" had the potential to waste up to a couple of liters of water an hour which added up to 20,000 liters per year, Muhamad Azaham also used his address to encourage water users to recycle water.

He added that water previously used for washing could be re-used to wash driveways or clear drains. He also warned that much of the wastage of treated water in Selangor occurs in urban areas where people tended to take the supply of potable water for granted.

Although a country considered comparatively rich in water resources, with an average 3,000 mm of rainfall per year with annual water resources of 990 billion cubic meters (BCM), degradation of water resources has made water shortages in Malaysia an increasing problem.

A 2008 report conducted by WWF-Malaysia in conjunction with Water Watch Penang (WWP), studied Malaysian water resources and found water wastage to be one of the key issues that needed addressing in the country's water management.

According to the report: "Rates of water wastage are very high in the domestic, industrial and
agriculture sectors. For example, in 2001, Malaysia’s national average for per capita water use per day was 287 litres, which was 70% higher than the 165 liters per capita water use per day recommended by the United Nations."

Published by OOSKAnews Water Weekly: Southern and Eastern Asia

[Above image: Flag of Selangor, Malaysia]