Rainwater harvesting is a common method to collect water from rain, in diverse forms such as direct from the roof, in tanks deposits, ponds or even artificial lakes. The city of Kuala Lumpur (with now 1.7 million inhabitants only in the urban area) has this process regulated by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia, by enforcing the MSMA (Manual of Urban Storm water Management). The process has in consideration flash flood, river pollution, soil erosion, development in the highlands and lowlands. With an average annual rainfall of 2486 mm, and the buildup area that has reached 1663.23 km2 in 2014 while the area of forest has suffered a reduction of 8.3% in 2014, Kuala Lumpur requires a smart and sustainable rainwater harvesting system.

The paper examines the conditions that exert pressure in the infrastructure of Kuala Lumpur whose center has experienced an increase in the number of violent flooding yet at the same time prevent an effective harvesting of storm water. This resulted in a high volume of water wasted without reuse and the limited capacity of the recollection of the rainwater.

The primary methodology used is the consultation of the available literature, journals, published reports, interview with experts and a survey at impacted neighborhoods. A secondary source of information is the observation in situ to help to support the validation of the conclusions.

The deficiency in the control of the flooding system is a negative correlation to the city’s development. This fact is related to the high rate of urbanism, insufficient drainage system, narrowed stretches of the rivers, low prices of water and the lack of an adequate implementation of incentive policies and the low volume of information to the population.

Key words: harvesting, storm water, flooding, deficiency, erosion.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/enviro.2017.070