French-Italian group to build sewage treatment plant

The contract for the construction of the South sewage treatment plant has been signed between the Director of Contracts and the Water Services Corporation and the French-Italian consortium Degremont/CCC/CMR.

Degremont will provide the equipment and know-how to build what will be the island’s largest sewage treatment plant, thus enabling Malta to comply with the EU Urban Wastewater Directive. Degremont are among the world leaders in this field of technology.

CCC/CMR are the Italian civil construction partners who have experience in construction of similar sized structures.

The plant will be built some distance from Xaghjra. The sewage plants project, partly funded by the EU has been mired in controversy owing to delays which put EU funding at risk, as well as judicial protests over the granting of tenders.

This signing means that Water Services Corporation has now contracted the largest sewage infrastructure development contemplated in the Malta Sewage Master Plan. Once this plant is completed there will be no further discharge of sewage effluent into the sea.

This project will link all the major South wastewater projects which also include the Marsa Sewage Infrastructural Project, the Rinella pumping station, the Xghajra pumping station that will also cater for Smart City infrastructural needs, the Barkat effluent outfall and the eventual decommissioning of the Wied Ghammieq outfall and the San Antnin sewage treatment plant.

The new plant will treat the sewage of the South and Central catchment areas.

A sewage treatment plant in Gozo become operational some months ago and another one at Ic-Cumbija, close to Anchor Bay, is close to completion.