Water Footprint Assessment to Map and Quantify Water Consumption and Water Pollution Incurred: A Case Study of Malaysia

Abstract

In line with the objective of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 6, 11, 12, and 15, a water footprint assessment (WFA) was conducted at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Campus in Malaysia. This study illustrates the concept of water footprint (WF) to map and quantify water consumption and water pollution incurred inside IIUM. Based on calculations conducted on blue water footprint (WFblue), approximately 279,810 m³/month was consumed in June 2022. Zone 5 was found to consume more clean water at 212,440 m³/month compared to other zones in the study area, due to its size and population. In terms of grey water footprint (WFgrey) for the water body calculated, it was found that sampling point P4 has 6,475,770 m³/month of WFgrey resulting from the accumulation WFgrey at three sampling points which are inlets to sampling point P4. This value is found to be higher than WFgrey produced by the community of IIUM at 1,947,495 m³/month. For WFgrey domestic, it showed that Zone 5 produced the highest WFgrey at 88,476,290 m³/month which also included the value of Total Suspended Solid (TSS), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD₅), and Ammonia Nitrate (NH₃⁻N) at the Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs). Results from this study confirmed that the amount of discharged polluted water is higher than the consumption of clean water. The water scarcity of blue water (WSblue) calculation showed that the value at each zone did not exceed 1.0 and can be categorized as sustainable. Nevertheless, the findings from the water pollution level (WPL) analysis showed all zones did not exceed 1.0 except Zone 5, whose WPL value nearly reached 1.0. Therefore, it can be concluded that all the Zones located in IIUM are still considered sustainable. The management of IIUM is recommended to take mitigation actions to ensure continuous sustainability of the campus, especially at Zone 5.