Water consumption is basically divided into domestic, industry (including commercial) and agriculture use which uses 17%, 21% and 62% respectively. In addition to that, there are few industries and almost all agriculture activities uses water direct from nature and not the treated water. According to “Malaysia Water Industry Guide 2011”, 2.07 billion cubic meters of treated water (1 cubic meter is equivalent to 1000 liter) was consumed by domestic consumers in year 2010. Therefore, AWER estimates that industrial sector uses around 2.56 billion cubic meter of water and agriculture sector is about 7.56 billion cubic meter of water.
With increasing demand for treated water, the treated sewerage wastewater can be used for non-potable purposes such as to cool machines, non-food processes, water parks under local government, etc. Dedicated pipes can be linked to high demand areas with special request.
In short, we need to be innovative in managing our ever increasing water demand in all sectors while achieving Water Security.