A Holistic Approach towards Water Demand Management in Penang

By Ong Siou Woon

Ir Jaseni Maidinsa - Photo by Syed Mikael Rizal Aidid

According to the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBA), water consumption has increased over the past 10 years by 45.9% to 291 liters per person per day in 2011. With the increase in population and economic investments in Penang, water consumption is expected to continue to rise. In the near future, it is predicted that the water supply in the state will be insufficient.

A roundtable on “A Holistic Approach towards Water Demand Management” was held recently at SERI. Jointly organised by SERI and Think City, those in attendance included representatives from PBA, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) and the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP). Ir Jaseni Maidinsa, CEO of PBA, pointed out that Penang has the lowest tariffs and highest water consumption rate in Malaysia. PBA has launched the Aquasave programme in order to encourage big water users to audit their consumption. PBA has also jointly organised educational campaigns at primary schools in order to teach children the value of saving water. He also proposed to introduce water saving devices with water efficiency labeling schemes in the Penang market.

James T. Cherian - Photo by Syed Mikael Rizal Aidid

The roundtable also invited two engineers working in Australia, James T. Cherian and James Yong, to share their experiences in water demand management in Southeast Queensland and Sydney respectively.

In Southeast Queensland, the Queensland Water Commission (QWC) was established in June 2006. Within five years, the average domestic water consumption per capita has been reduced by 43.26% from 282 litres per day to 160 litres per day. One of the approaches that QWC has taken is to introduce and encourage the use of water saving devices. In addition, public awareness about water scarcity has assisted in reducing the average domestic water consumption.

James Yong shared his experiences on the concept of “if you cannot measure, you cannot manage”. If you could not measure, then you would not be able to know the root to the problem. In Sydney, water saving programmes, such as the Smart Rinse Program, have successfully achieved 50% reduction in water consumption. Sydney Water has also introduced the Water Audit and Saving Action Plan for schools and business investors to audit their water consumption. Sydney Water will then assist the school or corporation to develop the water savings action plan.

James Yong - Photo by Syed Mikael Rizal Aidid

For the sake of Penang’s sustainable future, actions must be taken in order to save water. The most significant action that can assist in securing a sustainable water supply is by reducing water consumption as well as wastage. Educational campaigns and water saving programmes can be introduced to the community in order to inflict public awareness of the present unsustainable situation. Incentives can be used as an alternative to attract corporations and organisations to reduce water consumption. Cleaning up water bodies such as dams and lakes is also crucial to secure more local clean water supplies instead of transporting water from neighbouring states.

A follow-up roundtable will be held in order to discuss and propose a comprehensive water saving mechanism for Penang.