Survey of household water usage during movement control order (MCO) due to covid-19 among Tanjung Malim, Perak community

Early this year, the death causal microorganism identified as coronavirus or called COVID 19 has been spread worldwide, and Malaysia has not been an exception. Furthermore, on 25th January was the first case of COVID-19 that has been detected in Malaysia. Due to that, the Government of Malaysia, via the Ministry of Health and National Safety Council, has imposed the Movement Control Order (MCO) on Malaysians. In that order, the Ministry of Health and National Safety Council has given best practices during the outbreaks to ensure public health precaution among Malaysians. One of the precautions that need to be taken for households and individuals is to maintain good hygiene by frequently and proper bathing and handwashing to prevent the infection of COVID-19 to the community. Furthermore, the pandemic crisis COVID-19 has made the whole family stay at home for a long time more than usual. This means water consumption in the household was believed to arise due to activities and increased household sizes. The objectives of this study are to determine the water usage before and during MCO among Tg. Malim, Perak community and to determine the percentage of increase in water consumption during MCO among Tg. Malim, Perak community. A survey technique with a set of questionnaires was used to collect the required data on 383 respondents. The information was then performed in the cross-sectional descriptive study, and percentages were utilized to determine the association level. Also, the correlation between water bill and daily activities during MCO was observed. The p-value <0.05 was selected as normal, statistically significant. The results shows that, the percentage of respondents who paid water bill between RM 35.00 to RM 55.00 during MCO reduced by 4.4%, and this percentage was going to the higher water bill, which is more than RM 55.00 per month, meaning that, people in Tanjong Malim used more water during MCO as compared to before. As a recommendation, this study can be a new basis for implementing green practices among the local community, especially regarding water conservation. It can be used by authorities as a basis to craft a new policy of water conservation during the virus pandemic outbreak.