Higher water tariffs necessary to change mindsets, reduce wastage, say experts

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians use an average 200 litres of water per capita per day, which is well beyond the World Health Organisation’s recommended level of 165 litres.

The statistics are nothing new and Malaysians’ excessive consumption of water can be attributed to the nation’s water tariffs which are among the lowest in the world.

Recently, Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar announced that water tariff rates may be increased in stages this year.

He said the increase in rates was necessary to ensure good water quality and gave his assurance this would not burden the people.

The federal government is discussing the matter with the state governments before implementing the higher tariffs.

The proposal, however, has been criticised by some parties who felt the move would burden consumers in view of the nation’s uncertain economic scenario. They said the government should instead focus on efforts to cut down water wastage.

Water and Energy Consumer Association of Malaysia president T Saravanan said the move to increase water tariffs was necessary to enforce the mindset that water is a very valuable resource.

He said the higher tariffs would also enable water service companies to improve their efficiency by replacing old pipes and use new technologies for water treatment.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Faculty of Science and Technology lecturer Prof Yang Farina Abdul Aziz said the higher water tariff proposal was one way to educate the people on using water more prudently.

“So much water is being wasted despite various campaigns to conserve water. People still have no regard for water because they think it’s cheap,” said Farina, who is also a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.

Pointing out that Malaysia’s water tariff, at 52 sen per cubic metre, was among the lowest in the world, Yang Farina said neighbouring countries like Thailand charged more than RM1 per cubic metre and Singapore about RM3.

“Some Malaysians are even getting free water. When a resource is cheap and easily available, they don’t have a sense of responsibility towards conserving water. And, they certainly don’t feel the need to use this resource prudently,” she told Bernama.

“As Malaysians use about 210 litres of water per person per day, it translates to wastage of about 50 litres of water (per person per day). Just imagine how much water is being wasted.”

She also said people’s attitude also affected water quality.

“See how many rivers are polluted. In Selangor, for instance, the water treatment plants in Langat and Semenyih had to be shut down a few times due to pollution issues in Sungai Semantan and Sungai Semenyih. Who do you think are the culprits if not for the people themselves.

“Based on my own experience with Sungat Langat, I found it was polluted due to indiscriminate dumping of garbage, including oil, into the river by the community.”

She said any rubbish thrown into drains also ended up in the water channels.

Create more awareness

Yang Farina said research by local universities had indicated that the existence of pollutants also affected the entire ecosystem, including wildlife that lives on land.

“UKM has conducted research on river water to determine the effects of pharmaceutical products. We found traces of paracetamol (a common painkiller) in the water.

“If the paracetamol traces enter our treatment plant, it cannot be treated because we still use conventional methods of treatment,” she said.

Saravanan said safe drinking water was a fundamental requirement for maintaining public health.

He said since 2003, the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations had been advocating for a Safe Drinking Water Act to protect public drinking water supplies throughout the nation and ensure consumers have access to safe water.

“The United Nations considers universal access to clean water a basic human right and an essential step towards improving living standards worldwide.” - FMT