The Health Division is considering taking two Qawra hotels to court after they were allegedly found dumping dirty water into the sea.
The division claims that this was being done through a borehole that was supposed to allow water from one of the hotels' reverse osmosis plant to be discharged back into the sea.
The hotels appear to have connected wastewater pipes to the borehole, said John Attard Kingswell, manager health inspector at the Department of Public Health. He said the water discharged into the sea included water used to clean the pool area. Although the sea was not being contaminated, it was made to look dirty, raising concerns among both Maltese and foreign swimmers. The hotels have been ordered to remedy the situation.
The department had received persistent complaints about the issue but whenever inspectors went on site they never found any irregularities. It was only an inspection late last week that showed that the water coming out did not look clean, Mr Attard Kingswell said.
The issue was also raised in Parliament last month by Nationalist MP David Agius.
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority issued an enforcement notice last month since no permit had been granted to drill the borehole.