Rainwater Harvesting System: Low Awareness Level Among University Students in a High Rainfall Tropical Country

Abstract

Water scarcity has emerged as a global issue and the situation is getting worse. In accordance with the urgency, this study aimed to assess the suitability of a rainwater harvesting system (RWHS) to supply water for domestic uses in residential colleges in the Bangi campus of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The study also analysed the level of awareness on the importance of rainwater and RWHS among the students residing in the 10 residential colleges. The study used Likert scale 1 -5 questionnaire survey method and the sample involved 1,075 respondents randomly selected from 10 residential colleges in UKM. The findings showed that the suitability of rainwater collected by the RWHS for domestic uses had a mean of 3.45, while the mean value of awareness level towards the importance of rainwater and RWHS was 3.75. The questions group with the lowest mean score was "knowledge regarding the objectives of collection and reuse of rainwater", with a mean of 3.28. A case study of RWHS was carried out by installing a RWHS in one of the residential college, namely Ungku Omar College. Residents at Ungku Omar College got the highest total percentage for "agree" and "strongly agree" scores when being asked if rainwater collected by RWHS is suitable for domestic uses, as compared to the scores obtained by other residential colleges. Among the important aspects of RWHS include safety of water collected, sustainability of the system and quantity of water collected with mean of 4.39, 4.19 and 4.07, respectively. In conclusion, RWHS is a method that can be widely accepted among college students at UKM, mainly for domestic uses. However, further efforts should be incorporated to increase the awareness level and knowledge on the importance of conserving water resource.

Awareness Level of Water Resource Conservation of University Students

“…have mean values lower than 4.00. According to a study, harvested rainwater usually used as a domestic storage for washing cars, plants watering and for laundry [5]. Their study found that most people has low willingness to use harvested rainwater for shower and cooking due to the fact that rainwater have not undergo proper treatment which can make it safe to consume.…”

“…Their study found that most people has low willingness to use harvested rainwater for shower and cooking due to the fact that rainwater have not undergo proper treatment which can make it safe to consume. However, they also explained that the respondents are willing to use harvested rainwater for external use [5]. For example, using harvested rainwater for toilet cleaning and floor mopping.…”

“…The questionnaire addressed the following questions: a. Socio demographic factors (age, gender and level of education) b. Environmental Awareness [5] c.…”

Distribution Characteristics and Control Factors of Hydrogen Sulfide in Xishan Coal Mine of Southern Margin of Junggar Basin in China

“…The majority of coals in Xishanyao formation belong to the range of medium-extra low sulfur, part of which are high-sulfur coal (Qinping et al 2012, Shuxun et al 2001, Tan et al 2017. The macrolitho type of coal focuses on semibright type and semidull type.…”

A Morris-Sobol Two-Layer Progressive Model for Sensitivity Analysis of Parameters in Rainfall Threshold Calculation of Flash Flood

“…As for the services of the Ministry of Water Resources, determination of RT has already been started at the village level. The mountainous areas account for almost two thirds of China's total land area , Tan et al 2017. In addition, the small basis in mountainous areas are often ungauged, as they are short of monitoring facilities.…”