_Personal Action Plan in SUSI
Sustainability of Water Resources in Malaysia
- Water & Wastewater Treatment and Management
- Water Recycling
- Water Education in School
- Rain Water Harvesting
In SUSI, the main topic i will be focus on is the RAIN WATER HARVESTING SYSTEM.
Currently, in Malaysia there are less than 10 projects that had successfully implement Rainwater Harvesting System in Malaysia. Some of them are USM (campus), Housing Project at Pulau Pinang and Sandakan, Kota Damansara Housing Project at Petaling Jaya and Market Hall Project by DBKL.
Malaysia is a tropical country which is blessed with abundant of rainfall, currently receiving about 3,000 mm of average rainfall per year. Therefore, Malaysia should fully make use of the rainwater as an alternative water supply.
By using rainwater as an alternative water supply, we can help to reduce the cost of water bill. In fact, we can also save the environment by reducing the amount of clean water usage which obtained from the nature lake or river.
- Water & Wastewater Treatment and Management
- Water Recycling
- Water Education in School
- Rain Water Harvesting
In SUSI, the main topic i will be focus on is the RAIN WATER HARVESTING SYSTEM.
Currently, in Malaysia there are less than 10 projects that had successfully implement Rainwater Harvesting System in Malaysia. Some of them are USM (campus), Housing Project at Pulau Pinang and Sandakan, Kota Damansara Housing Project at Petaling Jaya and Market Hall Project by DBKL.
Malaysia is a tropical country which is blessed with abundant of rainfall, currently receiving about 3,000 mm of average rainfall per year. Therefore, Malaysia should fully make use of the rainwater as an alternative water supply.
By using rainwater as an alternative water supply, we can help to reduce the cost of water bill. In fact, we can also save the environment by reducing the amount of clean water usage which obtained from the nature lake or river.
Rain Water Harvesting
Rainwater is a part of hydrologic cycle which is the never-ending exchange of water from the atmosphere to the ocean and back again as rainwater. The precipitation like hail, rain, sleet, snow and all the consequently movement of water in nature forms are from part of this cycle. Never look small on the raindrop, every single raindrop fall during raining is very soft and is the cleanest water sources. The falling raindrop acquires slight acidity as it dissolves carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Rainwater quality always exceeds the surface water and comparable to ground water because of it does not come in contact with soil and rocks where it can dissolve salts and mineral which is harmful for potable and non-portable uses.
Potable uses include drinking, bathing, cooking and dishwash while non-potable uses can be toilet flushing water and gardening. Besides, rainwater is valued for its purity and softness. The rainwater quality usually can be influenced by geographic location, activity in the area and storage tank. For potable uses, rainwater must be treated to remove contaminants to avoid any dissemination disaster. Contradictory from non-potable uses, treatment is not required. With high quality and minimal treatment as well as adequate system maintenance, rainwater harvesting is a good way to meet users’ demand for the quality living in the future.
Currently, the water demand and pressure on water resources are growing rapidly due to the growth of population and expansion in urbanization, industrialization and irrigated agricultural. In order to make sure the country is free from water shortage crisis in future, rainwater can be a new development of water resource. An effective way to minimize the use of treated water for non-potable use is having approach to install rainwater harvesting system into the building.
Potable uses include drinking, bathing, cooking and dishwash while non-potable uses can be toilet flushing water and gardening. Besides, rainwater is valued for its purity and softness. The rainwater quality usually can be influenced by geographic location, activity in the area and storage tank. For potable uses, rainwater must be treated to remove contaminants to avoid any dissemination disaster. Contradictory from non-potable uses, treatment is not required. With high quality and minimal treatment as well as adequate system maintenance, rainwater harvesting is a good way to meet users’ demand for the quality living in the future.
Currently, the water demand and pressure on water resources are growing rapidly due to the growth of population and expansion in urbanization, industrialization and irrigated agricultural. In order to make sure the country is free from water shortage crisis in future, rainwater can be a new development of water resource. An effective way to minimize the use of treated water for non-potable use is having approach to install rainwater harvesting system into the building.
Benefits of Rainwater Harvesting
Benefits for Users
- Rainwater is a relatively clean, independent and ample water supply.
- Rainwater Harvesting system uses simple technologies that are inexpensive and easy to maintain.
- Rainwater harvesting system is very easy to handle and flexible. It can be modular in nature, allowing expansion, reconfiguration, or relocation.
- Save money by reducing the volume of water purchased from public systems.
- Save money by extending the life of plumbing fixtures and appliances.
- Avoid interrupted service from centralized water systems or overuse of water from a well.
Benefits for Government
- Reduce the burden for new investment to replace the ageing systems and adding the water supply infrastructures.
- Potentially avoid the cost of accessing public water systems when it is not economically feasible.
- Rainwater harvesting system can reduce construction cost in each development because it can be easily retrofitted to an existing structure or built during new construction.
Benefits for Environment
- By capturing rainwater, we reduce the abundant amount of rainwater that goes to the drainage and avoiding the floods phenomena.
- We can significantly reduce our reliance on water storage dam. This will avoids ecological damage to the area which has to be submerged to build the dam.
- Rainwater is superior for landscape use and plants thrive on rainwater well rather than other sources that might have chemical compounds that polluted them and soils. This is because rainwater forces salts down and away from root zone when it percolates into the soil.
- Increase soil moisture levels for urban greenery.
Thus, rainwater harvesting is suitable to be an alternative water supply in Malaysia.
- Rainwater is a relatively clean, independent and ample water supply.
- Rainwater Harvesting system uses simple technologies that are inexpensive and easy to maintain.
- Rainwater harvesting system is very easy to handle and flexible. It can be modular in nature, allowing expansion, reconfiguration, or relocation.
- Save money by reducing the volume of water purchased from public systems.
- Save money by extending the life of plumbing fixtures and appliances.
- Avoid interrupted service from centralized water systems or overuse of water from a well.
Benefits for Government
- Reduce the burden for new investment to replace the ageing systems and adding the water supply infrastructures.
- Potentially avoid the cost of accessing public water systems when it is not economically feasible.
- Rainwater harvesting system can reduce construction cost in each development because it can be easily retrofitted to an existing structure or built during new construction.
Benefits for Environment
- By capturing rainwater, we reduce the abundant amount of rainwater that goes to the drainage and avoiding the floods phenomena.
- We can significantly reduce our reliance on water storage dam. This will avoids ecological damage to the area which has to be submerged to build the dam.
- Rainwater is superior for landscape use and plants thrive on rainwater well rather than other sources that might have chemical compounds that polluted them and soils. This is because rainwater forces salts down and away from root zone when it percolates into the soil.
- Increase soil moisture levels for urban greenery.
Thus, rainwater harvesting is suitable to be an alternative water supply in Malaysia.
Rainwater Harvesting System
Rainwater can be captured by using the rainwater harvesting system. Generally, rainwater harvesting system is the direct collection of rainwater from roofs and other purpose built catchments, the collection of sheet runoff from man-made ground or natural surface catchments and rock catchments for domestic, industry, agriculture and environment use. The systems can be categorized as small, medium and large scale. Normally, the size of rainwater harvesting was based on the size of catchment area.
In scientific term, rainwater harvesting refers to collection and storage of rainwater and also other activities aimed at harvesting surface and groundwater, prevention of looses through evaporation and seepage and all other hydrological studies and engineering interventions, aimed at conservation and efficient utilization of the limited water endowment of physiographic unit as a watershed.
Rainwater harvesting system has been implemented in many countries such as USA, Japan, China, India, Germany and Australia to support the increasing water demand. The integration between rainwater harvesting system and existing conventional water supply systems will help to meet the demand and contribute in the sustainability of the water supply. In Malaysia, the rainwater harvesting system is not mandatory in the country, this might due to some problems which are legacy, health issues such as water quality and contamination, as well as the mosquito breeding.
As most pilot projects use rainwater for non-potable use like toilet flushing or gardening, water quality might not be an issue. However if the rainwater is for potable use, quality should not be compromised for the sake of saving. On the other hand, the public as well as government agencies are concerned with the possibility of mosquito breeding in the gutter. To make rainwater harvesting work without this worry, architects and engineers should not only come out with an environmentally and space-friendly design, but also a design that allows inspection and detection of mosquitoes.
In scientific term, rainwater harvesting refers to collection and storage of rainwater and also other activities aimed at harvesting surface and groundwater, prevention of looses through evaporation and seepage and all other hydrological studies and engineering interventions, aimed at conservation and efficient utilization of the limited water endowment of physiographic unit as a watershed.
Rainwater harvesting system has been implemented in many countries such as USA, Japan, China, India, Germany and Australia to support the increasing water demand. The integration between rainwater harvesting system and existing conventional water supply systems will help to meet the demand and contribute in the sustainability of the water supply. In Malaysia, the rainwater harvesting system is not mandatory in the country, this might due to some problems which are legacy, health issues such as water quality and contamination, as well as the mosquito breeding.
As most pilot projects use rainwater for non-potable use like toilet flushing or gardening, water quality might not be an issue. However if the rainwater is for potable use, quality should not be compromised for the sake of saving. On the other hand, the public as well as government agencies are concerned with the possibility of mosquito breeding in the gutter. To make rainwater harvesting work without this worry, architects and engineers should not only come out with an environmentally and space-friendly design, but also a design that allows inspection and detection of mosquitoes.
A model of an underground rainwater storage system
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