Identification of major problems with urban water supply in selected areas of Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Abstract

In this paper the survey results of 836 households located in three local authorities of Johor Bahru District are presented. A questionnaire consisted of some demographic, water supply, water usage and some opinion questions were administered to a randomly selected respondents based on housing type, settlement type and some socio-economic criteria in face-to-face interviews. The survey data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. The major focus of the questionnaire were on water usage and water issues such as water quality, interrupted or continuous water supply, response to pipe leakage problems, water pressure in the supply line, and water utility bill payments encountered by the households. The survey results reveal that the quality of domestic water in the surveyed area was realistically good except for few places where some complaints regarding high chlorine contents and silt presence were recorded. Besides that, water pricing was also identified as one of the major issues where some residents complained about current water price that is unaffordable. This paper will be of interest to policy makers, regulators, water company professionals and other researchers for enhancing water management in terms of strategies, policy and programs formulation and initiatives towards technological and infrastructural innovations.