Towards a Society of Water-saving Instead of Water-wasting: Malaysia's Challenges and Solutions

In Malaysia, it is estimated that between 65 to 70 percent of the 28 million populations live in the urban areas and water stress is fast developing due to high demands. The government aims to lead the country towards a water-saving nation through a sustainable integrated water resources management. However, there are many challenges that the government encounters in attaining to this goal. The aim of this article was to discuss the main challenges in achieving a water-saving society and to offer some relevant solutions to resolve the current situation in order to avoid major water crisis in future. Current major challenges and issues pertaining to water in Malaysia are top-down water management, ignorance of water shortage amongst some policy makers and consumers, high domestic water usage per capita, couldn’t-be-bothered attitude of consumers, poor enforcement of law, ineffective privatization, degrading of river water quality, and water high subsidies and low price. To secure water resources, Malaysia has to embark on water management and conservation through water saving publicity campaigns, use of women’s organizations and NGOs, public education and awareness, review water subsidies and price, demand-side management rather than supply management, rainwater harvesting, reuse of water and construction of wastewater treatment plants. It can be concluded that consumption behavior and sustainable water management with realistic pricing are watchwords for achieving a water-saving society

کلیدواژه ها:

Demand-side management ، rainwater harvesting ، water crisis ، water-saving society