Christian Peregin
Pumping it up illegally
A bowser extracting water illegally from a borehole last Thursday. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
A man walked out of his bowser truck in broad daylight last Thursday and hooked a pipe to a borehole in a quiet street close to Mġarr. According to neighbours it is a daily ritual - he will return between 10 and 15 times a day from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
However, this is not an uncommon sight in Malta, especially during the summer months; in fact, the practice has been going on for years. But illegal borehole extraction is creating serious problems for Malta, since groundwater levels are diminishing.
Only government-owned bowsers are licensed to extract groundwater, but enforcement is so lax that many make use of private boreholes on a daily basis. The water is then transported and sold to hotels, residences with swimming pools, and farms.
Hydrologist Marco Cremona says that, particularly in summer, bowsers cannot be transporting anything other than water. And if they are not owned by the Water Services Corporation, what they are doing is illegal.
The Resources Ministry last week said it would be presenting proposals to Cabinet in the coming days in a bid to crack down on illegal borehole drilling.
The Malta Resources Authority has no enforcement capacity and is therefore powerless to implement even the basic control measures.
Some private boreholes are registered, because a registration exercise was carried out in 1997. It is understood that the MRA has not issued any permits for the drilling of boreholes since it was set up in 2004.
Nevertheless, there are hundreds of registered boreholes and thousands of unregistered boreholes in operation.
According to Mr Cremona, as water prices and demand increased, more boreholes were drilled illegally - the figure runs into hundreds - either by farmers who needed free water to irrigate their fields, by industry, or enterprising individuals who thought they could make a quick buck by selling publicly-owned water at a cheaper rate than the Water Services Corporation.
With the recent surcharge increase, there is now a rush to capitalise on what remains. The result is that the quality of the groundwater is deteriorating at a faster rate than ever, according to Mr Cremona.
For more than 10 years, Mr Cremona has been campaigning for the protection of groundwater and has advocated for the municipal sewage-treatment plants to be built in areas that would allow easy distribution to agriculture and industry - as a substitute for groundwater.
Mr Cremona believes the government should announce a two-month amnesty allowing all those who own an unregistered borehole to come forward. Then a tough decision will have to be taken as to how to best allocate the 15 to 23 million cubic metres of groundwater that may be sustainably extracted from our aquifers every year. A conservative estimate of the extraction rate is 33.5 million cubic metres per year - which means that the cut-back in extraction has to be in the tune of 10 to 18 million cubic metres a year down from current levels.
"It is not fair that some individuals (and companies) are abusing our groundwater resources, stealing our water and making a buck from it while we pay so much for expensive reverse osmosis water," Mr Cremona said.
In order to reach the water quality that Malta had in the 1960s, all groundwater extraction would have to be stopped for at least 10 years, he said.
"Of course it's not a practical solution. But the least we could do is reduce our intake to the sustainable levels of 15 to 23 million cubic metres per year. This is also a requirement of the EU, so we have to reduce extraction whether we like it or not."
Popular Stories
Update 3: Woman found dead in car,...
Updated: Woman dies in car crash
Part of Dwejra 'Azure window' collapses
The end of the bar that ‘never closed’
Bundy does not know whether to...
This WAS the night - Kurt makes it...
Updated - Jason Micallef demands...
Petrol price up 6c
'No need for early election if PM's...
In Discussion
20 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
Marco Cremona
Sep 16th 2008, 23:11
Mr. Knight has got a point in the sense that the EU stipulates the need to reduce groundwater extraction (whether legal or illegal) - as a move to improve its quality. In other words, we need to control extraction whether we like it or not.
If the quality of groundwater does not show a marked improvement by 2015, the EU Commission will fall on us like a tonne of bricks, and not only will we end up with no groundwater to talk of, but also pay millions of euros in fines.
Government knows this......but government has been shying away from taking the necessary unpopular measures for years. There is a finite amount of groundwater.....we now have to get used with doing more with less. At present groundwater still provides the mainstay of the water supply for agriculture, tourism, farming, industry (including the construction industry), etc, landscaping, recreational use (like swimming pools), golf courses, you name it. And moreover, it is free.
Yes, some sectors will feel the pinch when groundwater is no longer as freely available, but essentially we do not have an option. We better start looking serously at alternative sources of water, which have been pooh-poohed to date.
James Mizzi
Sep 16th 2008, 15:49
Whenever I go for out by car, I seldom fail to encounter a water bowser. The only people who fail to notice are our enforcing officers. What do the hell they are being paid for?
Mario Gauci
Sep 16th 2008, 08:49
We might aswell get charged for the air that we breath. Malta needs a break at the present moment instead of everything getting shoved down our neck.
Mike Knight
Sep 15th 2008, 20:18
Hello , judging by feedback it looks as if i've upset my maltese friends, i apologise i didn't mean to upset my Maltese friends, it is merely a democratic opinion, what has Great Britain got to do with it, i'm actually a New Zealand national happened to have worked in the uk, it doesn't me i'm British.
victor vella
Sep 15th 2008, 16:11
Mr Knight (not of Malta I presume) We did not join the eu in good faith for subsidies, we joined the EU for democracy, for higher standard of living for betterment of our children;s future allow me to inform you that until we joined the EU joe malta and gozo had the cherry on the cake before we joined the EU so I hope that answers you.
M.Micallef please note that the water coming down Valley road is comtaminated with drainage overflow which due to our system in Malta cannot be avoided, also hampered by the irresponsable few who connect thier rainwater outlets to the drainage system also hampered by the irresponsable few who do not store thier rainwater for future use at home,I am one of the growing number who use rainwater in my water reservoiur for watering, toilet flushing and other grey water use. all i can say is why dont the wardens stop each and every bowser and demand a permit for the load being carried.then we will see how this stops .
Conrad Costa
Sep 15th 2008, 15:30
@ Mr Knight:
only in England is an old lady who forfeits an old pistol - belonging to her late husband at a Police Station - for safekeeping is arrested and risks being charged with illegal possession of a firearm which carries a minimum of a 5yr jail term. and that's not an EU law either. cheers mate
Zeppi Micallef
Sep 15th 2008, 13:53
@Mike Knight
What on earth has the EU got to do with this, except as a sorry excuse for you to embark on a diatribe against Malta? Do I sense sour grapes here? Maybe you would like to live in our lovely country and enjoy the sun and laid-back way of life instead of your rainy home that has fallen prey to the yob culture, with gun crime and stabbings the order of the day.
If you are so resentful about the EU helping new member states, then maybe you should lobby for your country to opt out, or better still emigrate and pay your taxes elsewhere.
Julian Borg Barthet
Sep 15th 2008, 12:36
Good Call M Micallef.
We don't take a problem and turn it into a positive. We continually dig up roads until they've reached such a state that patching up is no longer an option. For the cost of digging a trench in a road three times, we could have constructed permanent access tunnels for that areas public utilities.
Take a flood area at it's crucial area, and utilise it; this would mitigate further flooding, and benefit the area as a whole in terms of public and possibly private irrigation. during dry periods of the year.
Most homes with the room to spare, don't even consider rain water collection reservoirs (I'm not talking about wells here, it's slightly more hygienic then that) and use this water for flushing toilets and watering their gardens.
I feel that the ADT hotline for exhaust emissions is a fantastic public convenience for the people that want to take on these situations themselves. I do believe, we should have a similar hotline for cars and trucks that are doing other things. such as throwing garbage out their windows, driving dangerously, and utilising their vehicle for illegal acts.
M Micallef
Sep 15th 2008, 12:03
We could start by building more reservoirs to save valuable rain water ending up in the sea. How many cubic meters pass through Msida valley every year for example.
For a change we could use our brains for some innovation rather than the usual making a 'quick buck for the family' and slandering each other in politics.
The goverment and political parties could also show some vision in this field not just build energy hungry reverse osmosis plants
Mike Knight
Sep 15th 2008, 11:44
You guys joined the eu in good fate for subsidies from our taxes we pay backhome, be it for your disgraceful roads for one, now obey the rules as set out by Brussels or pull out or be made to pay heavy fines or slung out altogether..Pumping it up illegally is not exception, the story above makes sence, and wait for it.........There are more do's & don'ts to come *You ain't seen nothing yet my friends, we got rules in mainland europe that would make the average islander's hair curl up in knots and blood pressure rise to the limit, but having said this rules are made to be broken and by joe Malta and Gozo take the cherry on thecake.
Julian Borg Barthet
Sep 15th 2008, 11:09
Why do we insist on 'crack downs' every time something illegal happens in Malta. The Police should know and understand the laws, as well as enforce it when they see something amiss. I find myself, and I'm sure others can say the same, calling and reporting crimes even after a patrol car or warden drives by without even batting an eye.
I want to see people being punished for wrong doing, whatever class or political affiliation they may have. I mean for #### sake if I did something wrong and got dragged off by the cops, I'm not going to change my vote; i might even guarantee my vote with the party responsible for the enforcement.
I've never argued a ticket that I didn't deserve. I always apologise and tell whoever is issuing the penalty that I deserved it and It won't happen again.
John cassar
Sep 15th 2008, 01:22
From australia I read about this latest issue which is one of many. When will someone with real guts and determination stand up and manage the country. Nothing will be left for the next generation. It is really being sucked dry!! Everyone in power seems to be looking the other way. Why?? Every dog has their day.
Joseph V. Grech
Sep 14th 2008, 18:49
I had heard about this but dismissed it as unfounded rumour. Now there is the proof and the opinions of competent Maltese who are saying that Malta risks being starved of potable water. I am sorry but I have to say this: all our M.P.s should bow their heads in shame if they remain inactive after such blatant proof is there crying out not for mere words but serious corrective measures. Cabinet and Opposition should bring the matter up in the next Parliamentary session and stop the abuse immediately. Citizens are not only subsidizing tourism - they are paying through the nose for the water they use legally to make up for the illegal excesses of our nation's robbers. Wake up Parliament and do what urgently needs to be done!
charles cassar
Sep 14th 2008, 17:46
Our water is being stolen.It has been going on for years. Persons paying hundreds of thousands of pounds for a villa stoop down to stealing water from the people for their pools and large garden Hotels buy stolen water because it comes cheaper. Yet the government of the people does not act to stop this and punish the culprits. Why ????
P Debono
Sep 14th 2008, 17:32
Only in Malta!!
What a joke of a country!
Anthony Miggiani
Sep 14th 2008, 17:15
A country which does not enforce its laws is symptomatic of wholesale corruption.
Nigel Lawrence
Sep 14th 2008, 15:32
Last week this paper reported "a crack-down WILL be carried out". Now this has been reduced to "presenting proposals to Cabinet in the coming days in a bid to crack down on illegal borehole drilling.
Doest this mean that nobody really has the guts to make a decision and carry it out?
p.piscitelli
Sep 14th 2008, 14:28
i don't think that it's so difficult to find out who is selling our water,going to all the hotels around malta and ask for the receipt for what they paid and the game is done.then i don't see why swimming pools are not filled sea water when we have all this lovely sea around us.
Charles Busuttil
Sep 14th 2008, 12:21
Before the coming into existance of the Malta Resources Authority people with swimming pools were allowed to fill up with sea water and, unlike those who chose to make use of sweet water, they were exmpted from paying the annual registration fee to the then authorities (?WSC). Then MRA came into being and it needed to sustain itself: so pool owners were deprived of the choice option and made to pay the annual contribution called licence fee.
If salt water is made the rule for every T, D and H, Marco Cremona could perhaps quantify the savings that can be made in aquefer water. True enough sea water may increase the wear and tear of he pool equipment but it would be a burden justly borne by the owners. As for the salt water ending up in the drains I don't think it makes much difference . In any case where is the backwash water with chlorine being disposed of now?
As an incentive for pool owners not to break the law the licence fee would of course be waived.
Sandra Borg
Sep 14th 2008, 12:11
I hope that law enforcement is put into practice so that respecting the law would not be only for the lame.