Introduction...

            Our tropical country, Malaysia lies entirely in the equatorial zone with an average temperature of 27 degrees Celsius (27°C). The Northeast Monsoon starts from November and lasts till March. This monsoon is responsible for bringing heavy rainfall to eastern parts of Malaysia. Whereas, the Southwest Monsoon starts from May till September and this is a very dry period for the whole country. Throughout the year, annual rainfall is estimated around 3,000 – 4,000 mm and humidity rate is as high as 80% due to a high evaporation rate.

Thus, more than half of our annual rainfall becomes surface runoff water, for instance rivers and lakes. Rivers and underground water remain as the two most vital source of water for us. Although our country has a high annual rainfall, with the fast development taking place, it has increased the demands on water consumptions and at the same time adding pollution in our water supply.

At this point, the main factors are population growth, urbanization, industrialization and expansion of agriculture in our booming country. Recently, the water supply situation has changed at a period of time from abundance to scarcity. Water is no longer safe to be consumed directly from the source. Besides, water treatment processes have become more difficult and expensive over the years due to various pollutants contaminating the water.

With this, we should try our best to conserve water and not take for granted that water is constantly available in Malaysia. Perhaps we can learn a lesson or two from the El-Nino phenomenon which occurred during July 1998 when Malaysians witnessed water catchment and water levels depleting below the danger level as never seen before . Water rationing as well as cloud seeding were amongst the solution carried out at various parts of Malaysia during that unfortunate year.

In 2003, due to a prolong dry spell, water quality in several remote areas in Sarawak such as Bakong, Sibuti and Marudi had deteriorated significantly. Village folks were advised to drink boiled water to prevent water-borne diseases like cholera. It was a clear sign that even in the tropics, where rainfall is abundant, we can run out of water to meet the demands of the people.

According to statistics, Malaysians currently consume an average of 226 litres of water per person daily! Further studies showed that in Malaysia people can afford to take an average of 3 showers a day. This shows that Malaysians use 70% more than we should. If every household were to follow the recommended water usage, we will be able to save up to 202 cubic per household. 

In a nutshell, as a smart consumer, we ought practice a few sustainable water consumption, protect out water resources as well as aware of the quality of water supplied to us. We must not waste water. Instead we should use it wisely to ensure that we are able to enjoy the continue availability of clean and fresh water supply in the future. Authorities should play their part in ensuring that all water catchment area are protected not carelessly developed as this might reduce our water resources.