PERLIS, Kedah and Terengganu have the highest domestic water usage compared with the average account, the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) said.

SPAN had conducted a study to identify factors for high water usage in the three states.

In a statement, SPAN said domestic consumption in the three states on average were 430.73m3, 372.62m3 and 359.88m3.

“In 2020, the rate of water consumption in litres per capita per day (LCD) was 244 LCD, and it will increase to 251 LCD in 2021.

“In 2022, the LCD value was at 237 and has shown a decline.”

SPAN said the objective of its study was “to identify in detail the three states that have the highest domestic water consumption for the year 2022”.

The study also analysed “trends in water use, in addition to socio-economic trends and household lifestyles of the highest domestic water users” and “recommended cost-saving measures for the highest domestic water users”.

SPAN findings showed four main factors for high domestic consumption and included recommendations to counter those challenges.

The first, it said, was water supply accounts comprising more than one residence yet share a water meter, which leads to a larger household size than the average of four people as gazetted by the Statistics Department.

“The study shows 46% (60 out of 131 respondents) have shared water supply accounts for more than one residence.”

It recommended that residences have one account each to ensure water supply to each residence could be controlled.

“The second issue is leaks after the meter, which is the largest contributor to high domestic water use with a percentage of 62.6% (82 out of 131 respondents).”

SPAN’s recommendation was for users to promptly repair internal pipe leaks and reduce the demand for water resources.

It said stakeholders could help by providing subsidies or assisting those unable to immediately repair faulty plumbing.

“Thirdly, there is non-domestic consumption in premises that use domestic tariff-coded water supply accounts, which contribute to the high domestic water consumption.

“Non-domestic premises include madrasah, restaurants, chicken-processing sites, animal husbandry sites and agriculture sites,” it said.

It said water operators must identify non-domestic accounts registered as domestic accounts.

The last issue, SPAN said, was that 97.7% (128 out of 131 respondents) do not use water-efficient products registered with SPAN under the Water-Efficient Product Labelling Scheme, where 81.7% of consumers interviewed were not aware about water-efficient products.

Its recommendation was for domestic users to install water-efficient products with SPAN registration.

SPAN said high domestic water use could contribute to unsustainable water resource consumption. – December 8, 2023.