Executive Summary
As more than 70% of Earth is made up of water, we should be able to use it abundantly right? Unfortunately, we cannot! As this, 70% of water is salted, unhygienic, and not suitable for our daily tasks (Ibrahim, 2013). Public health and living standards are heavily dependent on clean water (Liangxin et al., 2014). We need to conserve Earth for our future generations, but if we misuse the resources, which are available to us, such as water, our planet might become extinct sooner than what scientists have predicted. According to the United Nations Development Programme (2012) cited in (Liangxin et al., 2014), “The percentage of the world’s population that has access to drinking water has increased from 77% to 89% between 1990 and 2010.” In addition developing countries in the near future may face massive water shortages, due to the rising population and demand for clean water (UNDP, 2012) cited in (Liangxin et al., 2014). As there is limited clean and safe water available, we need to use this necessity with great care, so that everyone can receive a share of it. After all, there is NO LIFE WITHOUT WATER.

Objective
The objective of this report is to make Malaysians understand the importance of water conservation, to come up with various strategies and tactics on how to use water wisely. Why water conservation specifically? Because earlier this year in Klang Valley, Malaysia, there was a water crisis, as there was not enough amount of stored water in a dam to be distributed throughout the affected areas, and therefore, the government had to step it to solve this issue (Winifred, 2014). And the solution was water-rationing. This problem would not have started in the first place, if Malaysians living in the Klang Valley consumed water smartly, as on average individuals in Malaysia are known to use around 225 liters of water on a daily basis (Ibrahim, 2013).

Strategies
Strategy originates from the Greek word “strategos” and is a term in military for coming up with ways to fight back enemies on the battlefield (Franklin et al., 2009). The best way to understand the strategies which can be used via PEST and SWOT analysis for water conservation in the Klang Valley need to be evaluated. ‘
First we will look at how PEST (Political, Economic, Social (and cultural), Technological) can be utilized to combat water wastage (Tench and Yeomans, 2014). We will look at the Economical and the Social aspects.
In economics, there are scarce resources available because there are laws of supply and demand, as markets and spending patterns of consumers fluctuate (Tench and Yeomans, 2014). The macroeconomic environment needs to be examined by the local authorities with the support of political help (as they go hand in hand) should take immediate steps to implement a crisis management plan when one occurs, such as the water rationing implementation which took place early this year (Tench and Yeomans, 2014). “But if climate change alters the favorable rainfall pattern, we will have to come to terms with water rationing or other drastic water conservation measures” (Choong, 2011).
If this sector is privatized then there are higher chances of eliminating measures to conserve water such as water rationing (Hughes, 2012).
Under social, we look at how people’s lifestyles can be affected (Tench and Yeomans, 2014). When people have the mindset that “there is unlimited water” they will utilize more than what is needed, and especially with the costs being minimum for water, they will use more (Choong, 2011). “Obviously, the shortages and crises are not caused by having too little water to satisfy our needs. Rather it’s caused by unsustainable management of water resources that causes many people and the environment to suffer” (WWF-Malaysia, n.d.)
Marimuthu said “It is a pity that Malaysians use treated water to flush toilets. A dual-flush system for toilets could reduce 30 to 60 per cent of water usage” (FOMCA, 2010).
I believe in this situation, the local authorities should build awareness on the basic ways through which water conservation can take place for a bright future for clean water. Facts should be used to capture the audience’s attention, such as a dual-flush system for toilets could reduce 30-60% of water usage as mentioned above; a front load washing machine uses less water than a top load washer; an old shower head uses much more water than a low-flow shower head (FOMCA, 2010).
Second we will look at the SWOT analysis to come up with strategies for conservation of water (Johnston and Zawawi, 2009). Why SWOT? Because, it is important for an organization or a client to understand why it needs Public Relations. As PR it helps prioritize issues after identifying them, so that authorities can know where to start (Johnston and Zawawi, 2009).
The strengths can be: a) Ample clean water is available for everyone to use in the Klang Valley, but it needs to be used wisely. People need really understand the value of this necessity (Ibrahim, 2013).

b) Make people understand how happy their lives can be, when they have water readily available 24 hours 7 days a week. And that they would never need to face another period of water rationing again (Winifred, 2014).
The weaknesses can be: a) Individuals living in the Klang Valley do not find the necessity to save water, as they know ample is available, so then why should they save. “Water consumption increases when water is seen as an unlimited resource without restrictions for human use (utilitarian water beliefs), whereas ecological water beliefs are related to water conservation behavior.” (Chang, 2013).

b) Individuals know that water is affordable; therefore they would take advantage it. It’s psychological, when people see something which is worth of hardly RM10-RM20, why would they save it? According to Dr. Chan Weng, a Universiti Sains Malaysia professor, mentioned “Water is also dirt cheap. So cheap that nobody pays any attention to saving it in the same way we would save electricity.” (Waterwatchpenang.org cited in (Choong, 2011)).

The opportunities can be: a) To build a strong public message to communicate the necessity to conserve water on a daily basis from the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) (Choong, 2011).

b) To increase the cost of water which can be done by stopping its current supply at zero or low cost to consumers, Prime Minister mentioned in a press conference (Choong, 2011).

The threats can be: a) Actions taken by local authorities need to be successful in order for the message to conserve water reach the broad public; otherwise it can become a big problem. “Campaigns through the media to reduce water wastage have not been very successful.” (Ibrahim, 2013)

b) “Experts see water as even more valuable than oil. There are alternatives to oil. But there is no alternative to water.” (Ibrahim, 2013)

Message
A few messages need to be sent directly to our audience, the people of Klang Valley, such as switch off the tap, between tasks involving water. Activities can include are showers, washing clothes, brushing teeth, toilets etc. For example people can off the tap while applying soap to their body, and then on it once they have covered their body in soap. The message could be, to recycle the water once you take it from the tap. For example a certain amount of water can be used to rinse more than 1 vegetable, so then you do not need to use more water for rinsing more than one vegetable at a time. This can be understood by the image below:

[pic]
Jackson’s symmetrical behavior 5-steps model communication theory, would be easily relate to this scenario (Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg, 2013). The first step is to gain the audience’s attention by awareness of the water rationing issue in this case (Ibrahim, 2013) and (Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg, 2013). Second step is investigating responses, which is to find out what people are discussing about the topic, and in what context, whether it is positive or negative (Ibrahim, 2013) and (Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg, 2013).. Third would be to measure their responses, so that we can find out whether are for or against water rationing and why- which can be found out through the media via newspaper articles (Choong, 2011) and (Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg, 2013). Fourth is monitoring the responses to the ‘water rationing event’ and what behaviors are anticipated by the consumers, such as whether the average water consumption of Malaysians is still at 225 liter’s on a daily basis or has it reduced to those of our neighboring countries such as Singapore (154 liters per individual) (Choong, 2011) and (Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg, 2013). Fifth is the evaluation of the behaviors which are anticipated by the consumers, whether they are satisfied with the new results, and whether their actions to conserve water will sustain or not (Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg, 2013).

Tactics
One tactic to overcome the whole issue of water conservation is to increase the price of water in Malaysia. In this image below you can see the different of water in various cities around the world. In Copenhagen, the price of water is at USD $7.38 per cubic meter and in London it’s at $3.80, and in Chicago it’s $1.46. These all prices are way higher than Malaysia, Dr Chan said “ In fact, the average Malaysian family’s water bill is only about 10% of its electricity bill,’’ (Choong, 2011). Therefore if Malaysia increases the price of water, automatically everyone will use water smartly, and not use the avg. 225 liters daily, as mentioned above (Choong, 2011).
[pic]
Image source: (Dumaine, 2014).

Another tactic could be that organizations selling water-using fixture, device and appliances, can utilize the latest technology available in the market, which can regulate the amount of water being used for each task, and by consumers purchasing these type of water-products it will not only save them a big amount of money on the water bill in the long run, but they can even feel they are doing their own part to save the environment as a whole (Maddaus, Maddaus, Maddaus and Matyas, 2014).
A third tactic could be, that local authorities, or NGO’s in Malaysia can start a social media campaign to spread awareness and general facts about water conservation on a daily basis (Newsom and Haynes, 2014). This should be done on Facebook and not on Twitter, because the size of Facebook is more than 6 times that of Twitter (Newsom and Haynes, 2014). Social media should be used as it allows organizations and individuals to create connections which are persistent with the members of the public (Newsom and Haynes, 2014). To connect the younger audience who are increasingly frequent on social network sites nowadays with the evolution of technology and the rise of social media sites, with mini-daily habits or lifestyle changes to kick in the habit of conserving water, they are bound to not only like it but share it with their friends circle (Newsom and Haynes, 2014).

Conclusion
To sum it all, water is an essential element of LIFE, without which IT CANNOT EXSIST. Malaysians have an extremely bad habit of using a huge amount of water on a daily basis, and because of this, they faced a water crisis this year as the level of water in a particular dam was extremely low. Therefore the solution by the local authorities was implemented immediately, and water rationing took place. Through this, there have been numerous criticisms, voicing out people’s views on the action taken via the media. At the end, it is the consumers fault as they have wasted a lot of water. Therefore strategies and tactics need to be implemented immediately to avoid such future water disruptions. To sum it all up, Dear Malaysians, Please Use Water Wisely