Water Management

& Conservation
Rainwater Harvesting

Ir. Lam Kim Seong March 2013

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Projected Water Demand

12,000 Projected Water Demand
in Peninsular Malaysia
Water Situation

11,000
10582

10,000 9756
Million Litres per day

9,000

8184
8,000 Domestic
7101 Industrial
7,000

6,000
2010 2020 Source: NPP Infrastructure and Utilities
Year Technical Report, 2001 in Federal Dept. of
Town and Country Planning, 2005
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Uneven people-water distribution

• Development/Industrialization
Water Situation

• Population growth
• People migration
In densely populated states, demand continues to rise but river
basins have reached their limit for maximum supply

For Selangor, there are four main sources of raw water for
processing into potable water and all has been utilized
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Water wastage
One of the most precious resources taken for granted
Water Situation

Average domestic water consumption in Malaysia is higher than

that of developed countries (eg. 226 litres per person per day
(LPD) in Selangor and 274 LPD in Penang) compared to best
practice (100 LPD - Czech Republic) and more than twice the
average of Singapore, Australia or UK
Average consumption in Selangor including water used outside
the home (workplace, school, etc) is > 300 LPD. The international
standard for recommended water usage is 165 LPD1

[1] School of Humanities, USM, Malaysia

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INTENT
To encourage rainwater harvesting the will lead to reduction in potable
water consumption
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES?
Intent

Environmental
• Reduces demand on treated water
• Reduces soil erosion & flooding caused by runoff
• Reduces peak flow discharge to drainage system
Qualitative
• One of the purest water source
• Not exposed to contaminants in the ground
• Rainwater is soft water
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Rainwater harvesting from rooftop catchments for use in

cistern storage is not new. It has been an important source of
water supply for domestic purposes in many rural areas in
the past
Feasibility

In 2004 NAHRIM (National Hydraulic research Institute of

Malaysia) was established to conduct research of water
hydraulic and water environment
• 3 pilot projects carried out; Government office, Mosque
and a residential house
• Designing and installing RW harvesting system for
several schools
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Malaysia is endowed with far more rainfall than our water demand
when compared with other countries.
Feasibility
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GBI Water Efficiency – Rainwater Harvesting

NRNC
Achieve the following percentage reduction in potable water
consumption:
GBI Criteria

• 1 point: For 15% or more

• 2 points: For 30% or more

RNC
Achieve the following percentage reduction in potable water
consumption:
• 1 point: For 10% or more
• 2 points: For 30% or more
• 3 points: For 40% or more
• 4 points: For 50% or more
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Potable Water
The baseline consumption refers to all treated (potable) water
taken from the water mains
GBI Criteria

Depending on the type of buildings, potable water usage may

include the following applications:
• Toilets
• Landscape irrigation
• F&B
• Cooling tower make-up
• Swimming Pools and Water Features
• Laundry
• General Washing
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Factors that affect Rainwater Harvesting Design

• Daily rainfall intensity
• Rain events distribution
Strategies

- continuous rainy days

- dry spells
• Available catchment
• Building water usage pattern
• Storage tank size
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Rainfall - uncontrollable
Excess/overflow from heavy downpour or
continuous rainy days (affected by the size of
storage tank provided)
Unaccounted potable water use
Strategies

during prolonged dry spells

Source: Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran Malaysia

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Catchment
Site/building design – catchment area constraint
Strategies

Low rise
- high catchment/usage ratio

High rise
– low catchment/usage ratio
– RWH design more challenging
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Building Water Consumption

Building type dependent
• Residential
Strategies

• Non-residential (office, shopping etc.)

Factors to consider are hours of occupancy and days of operation
- Office (5 or 6-day week)
- Residential (7-day week)
- Retail/Hotels (7-day week)
- Irrigation (daily except rain event days)
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Effectiveness of RW Harvesting is limited if:

building baseline consumption is not addressed

Low Water Usage High RWH ratio

Strategies

harvested rainwater is not effectively used

Type of usage
• Garden Irrigation
• Toilet flushing
• Others (Air conditioning make-up, etc.)

Increased Usage High RWH ratio

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Principles of Water Management

Water Management

Conserve water

Reuse water

Know where and how water is used

Continuous evaluation of water use
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For an effective of RW Harvesting system:

Baseline Consumption

Baseline potable water consumption has to be

improved.

Use of water efficient fittings

Improve air conditioning system
design to reduce AC make-up water
requirement

Waste water recycling

AC condensate water recovery
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Water Efficient Fittings

Baseline Consumption

Water Closets
> 6L per flush - inefficient
< 6L per flush – good
< 4.5L per flush - excellent
Tap Fittings
> 6 L/min – inefficient
< 6 L/min – good
< 4 L/min - excellent
Urinals
> 2L per flush - inefficient
< 2L per flush – good
< 1L per flush - excellent
Shower heads
> 9 L/min – inefficient
< 9 L/min – good
< 6 L/min - excellent

Water Conservation
Select low-flow water efficient fittings
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Cooling Tower water make-up

Water usage in cooling towers:
Baseline Consumption

1. Evaporation
2. Bleed
3. Drift losses

Evaporation
• Normal process
• To remove heat from the condenser water

Drift Loss
• Water lost due to water droplets entrainment in the air stream.
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Bleeding (blow-down)
• Controlled draining of water to prevent built-up of dissolved and
Baseline Consumption

suspended solids (to prevent corrosion and scaling)

• Dependent on quality of make-up water and effectiveness of
water treatment system.
• Based on cycle of concentration (ratio of concentration of the
dissolved solids in the condenser water to that of the make up
water)

Water Conservation
Improved air conditioning system design:
• Reduced cooling load to lower condenser water flowrate
• Select /specify low drift-loss cooling towers
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Strategies
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Water Consumption comparison between baseline and design case

Baseline Consumption
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Baseline Consumption
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Baseline Consumption

Description Baseline Design

Potable Water Consumption 40,556 22,090

Greywater Recycling - 4,176

Resultant Potable Water Consumption 40,556 17,914

Rainwater Harvesting 2,910 2,910

Ratio of RWH/Potable Water Consumption (%) 7.2% . 16.2% .

Total Potable Water Consumption 37,646 15,005

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Rainwater Harvesting System Components

Catchment
Components

Pre-storage filtration
Storage
Post-storage filtration
Treatment
Operation
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Catchment
Components

Pitched Tile Roof Metal Roof

RC Flat Roof Block Pavement

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Pre-storage filtration
The first rainfall may contain higher than average amounts of
accumulated dust, industrial pollutants, bird and animal
droppings, leaves and other debris, pre-storage filtration
Components

shall be provided to prevent risk of contaminants affecting

rainwater quality.
Depending on the type of catchment area and the intended
use of the rainwater, filtration may be required.

Leaf and debris screen

- Install on downpipes to
remove leaf and debris
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First Flush
First flush diverter to improve rainwater quality.
- Divert minimum 1mm of initial rainfall with first flush diverter
Components

or other suitable means

- Divert higher volume
of first flush rainwater
if substantial pollution
expected.

Exercise
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Post-storage Filtration/Treatment
Post-storage filtration/treatment may not be required if the
rainwater is used for garden watering or car wash.
Components

For toilet flushing, laundry or similar uses, suitable method of

filtration has to be provided to safeguard against odour, sediment
and discolouration that may affect appliances or clothing.

Post-storage treatment includes:

- Sediment filtration (remove suspended solids)
- Activated carbon (taste/odour/colour)
- Fine micron or membrane filtration (if human contact or
consumption is envisaged)
- UV light treatment (if human contact or consumption is
envisaged)
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Design approach:
Intended use
Rainfall data
Design

Available/required catchment
Catchment type (run-off coefficient)
Pre-treatment (first flush diversion amount)

Above in turn determines the size of rainwater storage tank

required.
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Rainwater Harvesting applications

Landscape Irrigation
Toilet flushing
Design

Laundry
Others
• pools/ponds make-up
• cooling tower make-up
• general washing

Increased Usage High RWH ratio

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Rainfall Data
Daily rainfall data can be obtained from Jabatan
Pengairan dan Saliran Malaysia
Design
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Collectible Rainwater
Dependent on:
• Catchment area
• Type of catchment
Design

With the defined catchment area, type of catchment and the

rainfall data, the following Rainwater Collection Calculation
formula can be used to estimate the amount of rainwater that
can be captured.

Rainfall Catchment Run-off Amount Litres of

in x area x Coefficient - diverted = rainwater
(mm) (m2) (%) (L) captured
 Thank you
Ir. Lam Kim Seong
Prudenergy Consulting Sdn Bhd
kslam@prudenergy.com.my