Water cuts remind Malaysians to save and innovate

As a million or so residents in Klang Valley face water disruption, many are reminded of the need to save and conserve.

Astro AWANI on Tuesday asked Malaysians, NGOs and water activists the kind of innovative methods we can use daily.

Many shared various methods, including those done by individuals and commercial bodies and other suggested more big-scale efforts by the government as well.

Of these, here are some proposed ‘zero cost measures’ or things one can consider:

• Collecting and re-using rainwater: There are multiple ways to re-use water from rain, from simply using pails to collect them or installing a rainwater harvesting system. Using rainwater to do washing has been touted to potentially save 30% to even more of water bills.
• Efficient toilet flushing: Statistics from studies show that the toilet can take up the most water in a typical home(up to 30%), this is followed by bathing and washing of clothes. One method to reduce water used in toilet flushes, as suggested by one, is to put in two 500ml of bottles in the cistern. Some re-use water from the basin.
• Water- efficient equipments: With the Water Efficient Product Labelling Scheme(WEPLS) by National Water Service Commission(SPAN), consumers can better pick equipments with better water saving features. Other available technology include taps that use water bubbles and newer washing machines.
• Daily habits: Simple things such as fixing leaky pipes, washing clothes at full load, showering instead of taking long baths, watering plants with water used to wash vegetables can come a long way in conserving water, many say.

National Water and Energy Consumers Association (Wecam) secretary-general Foon Weng Lian said that many of these things that help reducing water demand are about changes in behavior.

“At the moment, Malaysians are using 220 litres of water per person a day. That’s one of the highest in Asia. UN recommends 150 litres per capita while Singapore is at about 130 litre per capita. Our neighbor is a country leading in water management,” said Foon.

While Foon agreed that educating the public and teaching techniques on reducing demand, he also said that on a larger scale, more should be done on the macro scale as well, including addressing the problem of supply.

“While Singapore has new water and that technology has actually closed the loop, it is expensive and I don’t see Malaysia needing that in at least 20 to 30 years. Instead, we need to find ways of processing more water,” he said.

The agriculture industry, said Foon, uses the most water in the country at some 70%, followed by the heavy industries, which uses water to wash and cool equipment.

“We need more research and development in the agriculture sector and heavy industries so that we can be more water efficient in that sense,” he said.