Treated waste water must be used - AD

Alternattiva Demokratika has insisted that the sewage plant for the south of Malta should be able to produce water that is suitable for agricultural and other purposes.

The party spokesman on sustainable development, Carmel Cacopardo, noted that Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt last week told parliament that water produced at the Gozo sewage treatment plant is being discharged into the sea, as it is not fit as second class water.

"Considering that Malta is the ninth driest country in the world, the Maltese government should ensure that the tender for the south plant sewage plant should ensure that the technology used is such that the plant can produce water that is fit for agricultural and other uses which do not require potable water such as street cleaning and industrial processes. The treated water is too precious a resource to be discarded," Mr Cacopardo said.

The sewage treatment plant in the south, which will be built near Xaghjra, will be the third largest after those in Gozo and at Ic-Cunija, near Anchor Bay.