SHAH ALAM: Water demand and usage in Selangor increased by more than 5 per cent this year, much higher than previous years due to a series of dry weather experienced in the country.
Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) corporate communications and public affairs assistant general manager, Priscilla Alfred said that water demands in a fast-growing state such as Selangor recorded a 3 per cent increase annually.
However this year, the demands and usage by Selangor residents were higher than expected which required Syabas to supply more water tanks at residential homes to fulfill the public's demands.
"Syabas received more requests for water tanks this year than before, even when water rationing was not conducted. Some areas seemed to run out of water supply fast and were unable to meet the demand due to fast growing population and lifestyle.
"In fact, Malaysians water usage has also increased from just 220 litre per person to 300 litre despite the recent water rationing as well as warnings by the government and non-governmental organisations of the consequences of over-consumption.
"Most of water we used daily are not for actual consumption but for other activities such as washing our clothes and watering the plants," she said at an environmental awareness and appreciation programme organized by Syabas and Puncak Niaga here, today.
It has been reported before, that Malaysia has the highest water consumption rate in South East Asia compared to the neighbouring countries. Singapore, for example, only uses about 130-150 litre water per day while Thailand uses 160-170 litres per day per person.
Priscilla added that some of the areas where water demands are high include Hulu Langat which was affected by the previous water rationing earlier this year.
"We do receive calls by residents who complained of water shortage so we send our water tanks to the area to help reduce the people's burden," she said.
On March 2, the state experienced a large-scale water rationing where over 6.7 million consumers in Klang Valley experienced water shortages.
The coming of the El Nino phenomenon and dry weather have prompted some quarters to question whether there would be water rationing again.