Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the SPA will go up from the current 48 sen to RM1 for every 1,000 litres of water used, after usage of 35,000 litres per month, Bernama reported.

The Penang Water Supply Corporation will send a letter the National Water Services Commission (Span) to seek permission to do so by the end of the year, he said.

"The state government has received a lot of criticism over the low water tariff which has resulted in excessive water waste.

"Many have asked that we raise the tariff, and I admit there is logic to that criticism.

"The government has managed to keep water tariffs at its lowest for nine years and we are reluctant to raise it, but the situtation cannot go on as it is," he told reporters after launching the Penang World Water Day 2017 event in George Town today.

He said the state expects Span to take between three to six months to approve the request.

"We do not want to raise water tariffs because it burdens the people but there is no other way. We hope the SPA hike will raise public awareness (of water wastage)," he said.

Meanwhile, Penang Water Supply Corporation chief executive officer Jaseni Maidinsa said the corporation paid a subsidy of RM91 million to keep domestic tariffs low.

He estimates that 25 percent of Penang's 504,400 domestic users consume excessive water.

He added the SPA hike will only impact domestic users while commercial users will continue to pay the market price.

"We are asking that consumers reduce water consumption by 10 percent to ensure that we have enough supply until 2020," he said.

He said the state seeks to cut water consumption from 827 million litres a day in 2016 to 778 million litres a day this year.