LETTER | On March 22, 2021, World Water Day will be celebrated in an online event throughout the world due to new social norms to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. The World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the global water crisis, and a core focus is to support the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number six - water and sanitation for all by 2030.
The theme this year is valuing water. The value of water is much more than its price – water has enormous and complex value for our households, food, culture, health, education, economics, and the integrity of our natural environment.
If we overlook any of these values, we risk mismanaging this finite, irreplaceable resource. SDG 6 is to ensure water and sanitation for all. Without a comprehensive understanding of water’s true, multidimensional value, we will be unable to safeguard this critical resource for the benefit of everyone.
Though Malaysia is blessed with abundant water resources, the country is experiencing an alarming increase in demand for water supply in recent years. Many seem to take this natural resource for granted, while often having the misconception that supplying clean water would be cheap and easy.
Demand for water is higher nowadays. There are several contributory factors such as increased human population, which now stands at seven billion, uncontrolled development, as well as industrial and agricultural expansion.
Currently, the world's water supply is inadequate, deteriorating in quality and low flow of surface water. The greed for money is causing water pollution and quality deterioration. As a result, water has reached its carrying capacity, where water has reached its limits in balancing the pollution and negative treatment it receives.
The lack of awareness, unsustainable usage, and mismanagement of water directly impacts the environment and indirectly impacts human health. These impacts give long-term effects and permanent, irreversible damage.
Apart from the negative effects of urbanisation, water scarcity is also due to limited water management capacity and disorganised management. It is also caused by poor or non-existent communication among users.
As a result, uncontrolled release of pollutants and unsustainable usage creates environmental and human health problems. Some of these contaminations are irreversible and may cause death. Rivers have been used to the maximum and polluted, making it impossible for daily basic needs.
A catchment is an area where water is collected by the natural landscape. Healthy catchments help to protect our rivers, dams, and groundwater environments and provides:
- Clean drinking water
- Natural areas for recreation
- Habitat for plants and animals
- Healthy vegetation and waterways
- Reliable and clean water for stock and irrigation
- Opportunities for sustainable agriculture and industry
Logging will expose the land to direct contact with rain which causes erosion and will wash sediment into rivers, causing water pollution and the shallowing of river beds.
Logging activities in water catchment areas like Ulu Muda Forest in Sik, Merapoh Forest in Kuala Lipis, as well as Bukit Ulu Sat and Bukit Tapong in Pasir Puteh have polluted the rivers and threatened water supply as well as wildlife species.
Uncontrolled logging could hurt the efficacy of water catchments and jeopardise the economies of affected areas. Besides, the destruction of watershed areas will result in more flash floods. Deforestation plays many roles in the flooding equation because trees prevent sediment runoffs and hold more water. The release of sediment due to deforestation has wide-ranging effects.
The various state governments' approach to water politics could be backfiring now, with backlash from not only residents but businesses too, who are suffering from inept water management.
Policymakers must realise that water is a scarce resource. It needs a proper long-term plan to manage it to avoid a potential crisis. The rakyat are increasingly less impressed with the track record of all state governments when it comes to water management. They want to see an uninterrupted supply of clean and treated water and are not bothered about the politics of it.
In September 2020, more than a million households in Malaysia’s densely populated Klang Valley suffered extended water cuts after illegal chemical dumping debilitated the region’s aging water purification systems.
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, residents donned masks and lined up to fill buckets with water supplied by mobile water tankers and other alternative sources. A month later, before the courts could identify and charge the culprits responsible for the initial incident, a similar chemical dumping again left more than a million homes without water for days.
This kept happening, leading to a groundswell of citizens calling for stronger enforcement against industrial polluters, and for reforms that could prevent water cuts from becoming the new normal. As pollution increasingly seeps into Malaysians’ daily lives, this surge of angry consumers is amplifying a call long made by civil society organisations that have demanded better environmental stewardship and heftier fines for violators.
Climate change also affects the complexity of water treatment. Climate change has altered the availability, quantity, and quality of global water supply. Some of its effects include a longer drought period and heavier than usual rainfall.
The impact of climate change on water resources alters the availability, quantity, and quality of the water supply cycle. This refers to water demand, water resources, and water infrastructure. Climate change also modifies the water demand pattern. For instance, in the dry season, households tend to consume more water for planting and gardening.
Malaysia also faces the problem of high non-revenue water (NRW). This is one of the main causes of water shortage. In 2016, the NRW ratio was at 35.2 percent. Perlis recorded the highest at 60.7 percent, while the other states that recorded more than 40 percent were Sabah (52 percent), Kelantan (49.4 percent), Pahang (47.9 percent), and Kedah (46.7 percent).
Mostly, the loss of water occurs as a result of pipe leakage and water theft. Household and commercial water users can and should play an active role by reporting the problem to the authorities. Problems such as pipe leakage or burst pipes could be resolved sooner if we reported the cases.
The United Nations set the daily water requirement at 165 litres per person. Based on statistics from the National Water Services Commission (Span), Malaysians consume an average of 201 litres of water per person per day, which is equivalent to 134 bottles (1.5 litre capacity each).
The Malaysian average daily per capita consumption is also higher than recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Awareness needs to be created so that the public would know the importance of our water source and the negative impact if we keep on wasting and polluting it.
The government aims to reduce water consumption to 180 litres per person per day by 2025, said Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man. He said this was because the water consumption of Malaysians, at 219 litres per person, daily, was high compared with the recommended rate of 160 litres per day.
"The awareness level among Malaysians plays an important role in reducing water consumption because they currently feel complacent as we have abundant water resources," he said.
The problem of a short supply of water and depletion of clean water resources seems inevitable if no appropriate action is taken immediately. There is already a lot of demand for water. This is putting a strain on the sustainability of the resource.
With proper water management, the establishment of good strategies, effective legislation, proper maintenance of water resources would eventually materialise. Water-related problems must be addressed soon, and for the long term, to ensure water’s availability and sustainability.
Failing that, we would not be able to meet the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 target, which is to ensure access to clean water and sanitation for all.
MARIMUTHU NADASON is president of the Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca).
The above was a joint press release by Fomca, the Water and Energy Consumers Association of Malaysia (Wecam), and Forum Air Malaysia (FAM).
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
