Consumers play a role in preventing water crisis

By YIP YOKE TENG and OH ING YEEN
metro@thestar.com.my

CONSUMERS play a crucial role in preventing a major water crisis which is expected before 2015.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) president Datuk Marimuthu Nadason lamented that the current water consumption behaviour showed that many had underestimated the seriousness of the water situation in the country, especially in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

He said that based on the increasing usage today, consumer behaviour had not altered much since a water consumption survey in 2008 that showed most Malaysians did not put importance on saving water even though 40% of the respondents felt that the water tariff was expensive.

Only 10.7% of the respondents used water-saving devices and 13.7% know about water-saving devices. Only 12.4% of them actually controlled the main inlet to reduce household water usage and a mere 7.6% installed drain-filtering device to prevent pollution.

Imperative: Rivers need to be kept clean and free from pollution.

It was encouraging to note that 24.7% of consumers do regularly check for leaks to prevent water wastage while 50.8% know how to check for water leak.

About 65% of the households surveyed use single-flush system and about 43% use smaller cisterns, instead of the dual-flush system that can provide 3L and 6L options, which conserve between 30% and 60% water.

“Our tap water is actually drinkable so it does not make sense to use the water to flush toilets, untreated water or rainwater should be used instead. However, sadly more than 60% of the households use treated water for flushing toilets,” he said.

The households were also asked what actions would they take to reduce water usage in the next three years — a whopping 70% indicated that they were unlikely to do that.

The survey also showed that only 24.2% of households in Selangor used water saving devices, compared with the chart toppers Pahang (66.4%), Kelantan (53.1%), Labuan (51.6%) and Perlis (36.7%).

“Consumers have a duty to conserve water and at the same time ensure all rivers are kept clean and free from pollution,” said Marimuthu, adding that the federation might conduct another water consumption survey next year.

“In addition to that, both the state and Federal Governments must work closely to resolve the current situation in order to avoid a major water crisis, which could be far worse than the water crisis the country faced for six months in 1998,” he added.

The good news is, there are individuals among the public who have been doing their part for water conservation.

Raymond Tan, for one, has fitted a 500ml bottle in the toilet tank. It occupies space in the tank so there will be less water when the tank is full, which means less water used per flush.

The managing executive of Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia learned water-saving methods after he realised the importance of saving water for the foundation.

“Tzu Chi originated from Taiwan. In Taiwan, the people face a bigger water crisis and have stepped up efforts in environment-conservation,” the 40-year-old said.

His family has also stepped up effort to save water, including his three young children who have been taught since young on the importance of saving water.

Tan has a water-filter system installed and during the filtering process, some of the unfiltered water flows to the drain, leading to wastage.

To reduce wastage, he directed the water flow to a pail instead and use it for cleaning, bathing and watering plants.

“Not many people do it as it is troublesome because I have to change the pail whenever it is full.

“Instead of detergent, I add enzyme to the water when mopping or cleaning as it is more environmentally-friendly.

“When bathing, after washing away the soap, subsequent water used is stored and used for flushing,” he said.

Real estate agent Eliza Chuah also has her family’s cooperation when it comes to saving water.

“My children (ages nine to 14) are also taught to be prudent and are reminded to turn off taps after use,” she said.

“I save water by having empty pails to collect rain water, which is used for washing clothes and the outdoor area.

“I also have an outdoor pond/fountain in the garden and water from that is used to water plants, especially when it’s full after rain,” she said.

Her water-saving methods also translate into saving costs.

“At one point my water bills were pretty high, as I had two maids and one of them seemed to be washing eternally. With nine people in the house, the bills come up to between RM50 and RM70.

“Now I only have one maid and seven people in the house; plus with the discount from Selangor, I have managed to cut the charges down by 50%,” she said.