Revisiting Rainwater Harvesting: A Systematic Review of Management Practices in Malaysia Using PRISMA
Article Sidebar
24 December 2024
12 March 2025
Abstract
This study revisits the development and application of rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems in Malaysia and highlights their role in integrated and sustainable urban water resource management. A systematic literature review based on PRISMA guidelines analyzes research on RWH, storm-water management, and green technologies in Asia, especially Malaysia. The results show that RWH has evolved from a traditional practice to a modern multifunctional solution for water conservation, flood protection, and climate change adaptation. Considering the Malaysian conditions, the unique RWH system is an important tool for reducing flash floods, improving groundwater recharge, and reducing storm-water pollution. The study recommends using green infrastructure, such as rain gardens, as a complementary solution to improve water retention and quality. This highlights the need for local, cost-effective technical and regulatory frameworks to facilitate the widespread adoption of RWH. This study also encourages the integration of RWH into national policies to achieve sustainable water management in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The novelty of this study lies in its systematic review approach, focusing on the evolution of water resource management strategies in Malaysia and the need for integrated planning and policy support to take full advantage of the potential of the RWH system to address water and environmental issues in Malaysia.
References
greenbuildingindex.org. (2010). Retrieved 6 September, 2022, from https://www.greenbuildingindex.org/: https://www.greenbuildingindex.org/faq-green/#1582099513659-6bdc153c-f59b
Preventing Water Pollution in Your Community. (2018). Retrieved 12 May, 2022, from https://web.uri.edu: https://web.uri.edu/riss/files/Abridged_ServiceManual.pdf
An Environmentally Sound Approach for Sustainable Urban Water Management: An Introductory Guide for Decision Makers. (2020). Rainwater Harvesting and Utilisation. Iloilo City, La Paz, Philippines: International Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (IRCSA).
topping-east. (22 May, 2021). Retrieved 24 July, 2022, from https://ttf-koubo.jp: https://ttf-koubo.jp/en/project/topping-east/index.html
resources-consumption. (14 March, 2022). Retrieved 25 June, 2022, from populationmatters.org: https://populationmatters.org/resources-consumption
Abdul Malek, B. (22 Mac, 2007). Pelan Penjimatan Air Kebangsaan: Tanggungjawab Kerajaan. Presented at The National Seminar on Water Saving Awareness in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Berjaya Times Square, Hotel.
Abdullah, M. (14 September, 2015). New Development and Challenges in Malaysian Drinking Water Supply. Retrieved 20 June, 2022, from slideplayer.com: https://slideplayer.com/slide/5175607/
Al-Batsh, N., Al-Khatib, I., Ghannam, S., Anayah, F., Jodeh, S., Hanbali, G., et al. (2019). Assessment of Rainwater Harvesting Systems in Poor Rural Communities: A Case Study from Yatta Area, Palestine. Water, Vol. 11, 585, 1-15.
Buntat, Z., Iqbal, S., Saburi, W., Adzis, Z., Sohaili, J., & Smith, I. (2015). Development of an Integrated System for Ozone Treated Harvested Rainwater in Perspective of Green Building Scenario of Malaysia. Journal Environmental Earth Sciences (5), 51-60.
Centre, R. R. (2009). Rainwater Management System in Star City-Star City Rainwater Harvesting System Guide Book, Korea. Rainwater Research Centre.
Che Ani, A., Shaari, N., Sairi, A., Zain, M., & Tahir, M. (2009). Rainwater Harvesting as an Alternative Water Supply in the Future. European Journal of Scientific Research, Volume 34, 132-140.
Crouch, M. L., Jacobs, H. E., & Speight, V. L. (2021). Defining Domestic Water Consumption Based on Personal Water Use Activities. Aqua-Water Infrastructure, Ecosystems and Society, Vol. 70, No. 7, 1002-1011.
D.I.D. (8 July, 2022). Info Banjir. Retrieved 9 July, 2022, from publicinfobanjir.water.gov.my: https://publicinfobanjir.water.gov.my/hujan/?lang=en
Du, K., & Li, J. (2019). Towards a Green World: How do Green Technology Innovations Affect Total-Factor CarbonProductivity. Energy Policy, Volume 131, 240-250.
Elyza, N., & Mohd Sidek, L. (November, 2012). ConstructedRain Garden for Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) as Stormwater Management in Malaysia: A Literature Review. Retrieved 12 January, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280922041_Constructed_Rain_Garden_for_Water_Sensitive_Urban_Design_WSUD_as_Stormwater_Management_in_Malaysia_A_Literature_Review
Ercin, A., & Hoekstra, A. (2014). Water Footprint Scenarios for 2050: A Global Analysis. Environment International, Vol. 64, 71-82.
Fletcher, T., Deletic, A., Mitchell, V., & Hatt, B. (2008). Reuse of urban runoff in Australia: A review of recent. Journal of Environmental Quality, 37, S116-S127.
Haddaway, N., Collins, A., Coughlin, D., & Kirk, S. (2015). The Role of google scholar in evidence reviews and its applicability to grey literature searching. PLoS ONE.
Hajani, E., & Rahman, A. (2014). Reliability and Cost Analysis of a Rainwater Harvesting System in Peri-Urban Regions of Greater Sydney, Australia. Water (6), 945-960.
Harden, A., Thomas, J., Cargo, M., Harris, J., Pantoja, T., Flemming, K., et al. (2018). Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group guidance series-paper 5: methods for integrating qualitative and implementation evidence within intervention effectiveness reviews. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 97, 70-78.
Husodo, A. H., Astuti, I., Sudarmadji, S., & Djohan, T. S. (2019). Rainwater as a Source of Drinking Water: Health Impacts and Rainwater Treatment. Journal of Environmental and Public Health.
Ibrahim, S. H., Abd Wahab, R., Yaman, K., & Mohd Nawi, M. (April 2017). Filtration of Rainwater Harvesting System in Rural Area. Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, 1-7.
Jimenez, A. S. (2020). Unpacking Water Governance: A Framework for Practitioners. Journal of Water, Volume 12, 227-238.
Johar, Z. (n.d.). wepa-db.net. Retrieved 4 September, 2022, from www.wepa-db.net: http://www.wepa-db.net/pdf/1003forum/25_cc_malaysia_zubaidijohar.pdf
Kabiri, R., Ramani Bai, V., & Chan, A. (2015). Assessment of hydrologic impacts of climate change on the runoff trend in Klang Watershed, Malaysia. Environmental Earth Sciences, No. 73, 27-37.
Kim, R.-H., Lee, S., & Kim, J.-O. (2005). Application of a metal membrance for rainwater utilization: Filtration Characteristics and Membrance Fouling. Desalination (177), 121-132.
Kuok, K., & Chiu, P. (2020). Optimal Rainwater Harvesting Tank Sizing for Different Types of Residential Houses: Pilot Study in Kuching, Sarawak. Journal of Engineering Science and Technology. Volume 15, 541-544.
Lee, K., Mokhtar, M., Mohd Hanafiah, M., Abdul Halim, A., & Badusah, J. (2016). Rainwater Harvesting as an Alternative Water Resource in Malaysia: Potential, Policies and Development. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 126, 218-222.
Leong, J., Chong, M., Poh, P., Hermawan, A., & Talie, A. (2017). Longitudinal of Rainwater Quality Under Tropical Climatic Conditions in Enabling Effective Rainwater Harvesting and Reuse Schemes. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 143, 64-75.
Liberati, A. A. (2009). The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate healthcare interventions: Explanation and elaboration. PLoS Medicine, 6(7).
M. Rashid, A. R., A. Bhuiyan, M., Pramanik, B., & Jayasuriya, N. (2022). A comparison of environmental impacts between rainwater harvesting and rain garden scenarios. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, Vol. 159, 198-212.
Mat Amin, M., Ercan, A., Ishida, K., Kavvas, M., Chen, Z., & Jang, S.-H. (2019). Impacts of Climate Change on the Hydrolic-Climate of Peninsular Malaysia. MDPI Water Vol 11, 1798, 1-18.
Md Lani, N. H., Yusop, Z., & Syafiuddin, A. (2018). A Review of Rainwater Harvesting in Malaysia: Prospects and Challenges. Water, 10, 506, 1-21.
Mohamad, N. (2020). Research on Rainwater Harvesting for Drinking Water. Project Presentation at National Colloquium on Research and Water Development 2020, Malaysia.
Mohamed Shaari, S. (2020). An Overview of Rainwater Harvesting for Sustainable Future in Malaysia. Environment-Behaviour Proceeding Journal, 5(14), 255-261.
Mohammad, M., Musa, M., & Yusof, M. (2014). The Awareness Among Developers on Rainwater Harvesting System (RWHS. International Colloquium on Science and Technology. Volume 1, 97-102.
Muhammad, M. A., & Zainal Abidin, M. (14 December, 2016). Water Quality Assessment of Rainwater Collected from Rooftop at UTM. Retrieved 8 June, 2022, from https://engineering.utm.my: https://engineering.utm.my/civil/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2016/12/Water-Quality-Assessment-of-Rainwater-Collected-from-Rooftop-at-UTM.pdf
Muhammad, N., Abdullah, J., & Julien, P. (2020). Characteristics of Rainfall in Peninsular Malaysia. Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1529 052014, 1-12.
Munna, G., Alam, J., Uddin, M., Islam, M., Tonmoy, K., & Hridoy, I. (2020). Rainwater Harvesting Potentialities to Reduce Over Extraction of Groundwater in Sylhet. Scholars Journal of Engineering and Technology, 48-58.
Murase, M. (2003). citeseer. Retrieved 29 August, 2022, from https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.738.1498&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Musinguzi, D. (2016). Trends in tourism research on Qatar: A review of journal publications. Tourism Management Perspectives, 20,, 265-268.
NAHRIM Research Centre. (2020). NAHRIM Strategic Plan 2016-2020. Retrieved 25 May, 2022, from www.nahrim.gov.my: http://www.nahrim.gov.my/en/publications/listofpublications.html.
Nikmatin, S., Syafiuddin, A., Hong Kueh, A. B., & Maddu, A. (2017). Physical, Thermal, and Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene Composities Filled with Rattan Nanoparticles. Journal of Applied Research and Technology (15), 386-395.
Nizam, N., Hanafiah, M., Mokhtar, M., & Jalal, N. (2021). Water Quality of Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting System (MyRAWAS). IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Sciences 880 (pp. 1-11). IOP Conf. Series.
Palla, A., Gnecco, I., & La Barbeca, P. (2017). The Impact of Domestics Rainwater Harvesting Systems in Storm Water Runoff Mitigation at the Urban Block Scale. Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 191, 297-305.
Patrick, A. (2016). influence-of-rainfall-and-water-level-on-inland-fisheries-production-a-review. Retrieved 24 April, 2022, from https://www.scholarsresearchlibrary.com: https://www.scholarsresearchlibrary.com/articles/influence-of-rainfall-and-water-level-on-inland-fisheries-production-a-review.pdf
Petticrew, M., & Roberts, H. (2006). Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences: A Practical Guide. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Piarapakaran, S. (20 October, 2021). Decontaminating Water Issues in 12th Malaysia Plan. Retrieved 25 May, 2022, from awer.org.my: http://www.awer.org.my/?pgid=home&cid=485
PRISMA. (2020). PRISMA; Transparent Reporting or Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Retrieved 24 6, 2022, from https://www.prisma-statement.org: https://www.prisma-statement.org/Protocol/Protocol Guidance
Response, U. (26 January, 2022). water-scarcity. Retrieved 18 June, 2022, from www.unicef.org: https://www.unicef.org/wash/water-scarcity
Ridhwan, N., & Jamal, S. (2020). A Decade of Ecotourism Research in Protected Areas: A Bibliometric Analysis. Social and Management Research Journal, 17(2), 343-370.
Scopus. (2021). Scopus-Document Search. Retrieved from https://www.scopus.com
Shaaban, A. J., M.Amin, M., & Feng, H. Y. (2010). Rainwater Management and Utilisation System. The Ingenieur Vol.45, 28-38.
Shaffril, M., Ahmad, N., Samsuddin, S., Samah, A., & Hamdan, M. (2020). Systematic Literature Review on Adaptation Towards Climate Change Impacts Among Indigenous People in the Asia Pasific Regions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 258, 120595.
Sharif, S. P., Mura, P., & Wijesinghe, S. N. (2019). Systematic Reviews in Asia: Introducing the "PRISMA" Protocol to Tourism and Hospitality Scholars. In C. Khoo-Lattimore, P. Mura, & S. Rezaei, Quantitative Tourism Research in Asia: Current Status and Future Directions (pp. 24-33). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore Pte.Ltd.
Tayouga, S., & Gagne, S. (2016). The Socio-Ecological Factors that Influence the Adoption of Green Infrastructure. Journals of Sustainability, Vol. 8, Issue 12.
Vorosmarty, C., Green, P., Salisbury, J., & Lammers, R. (2000). Globalwater Resources: Vulnerability from Climate Change and Population Growth. Science , 284-288.
Wang, Q., Qu, J., Wang, B., Wang, P., & Yang, T. (2019). Green Technology Innovation Development in China in 1990-2015. Science of The Total Environment, Vol. 696.
Yang, E. C., Khoo-Lattimore, C., & Arcodia, C. (2017). A systematic literature review of risk and gender research in tourism. Tourism Management, 58,, 89-100.
Ying, J., Zhang, X., Zhang, Y., & Bilan, S. (2022). Green Infrastructure: Systematic Literature Review. Economic Research, Vol 35, 343-366.
Zaid, S., Zaid, L., Esfandiari, M., & Abu Hassan, Z. (2022). Green roof maintenance for non-residential buildings in tropical climate: case study of Kuala Lumpur. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 2471-2496.
Zakaria, S. (2019). Transforming the Water Sector: Working in an Integrated Manner. Kick off Conference 12th Malaysia Plan, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Malaysia.
Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
