The sensitivity of fresh water

There was a certain buzz about it. In the early 1980s, when the supply of fresh water in homes was an extremely rare commodity, children ran around with pails of water from the sea for flushing purposes or washed themselves in garages or backgardens because the pressure at the mains never managed to fill the cold water storage on the roof.

Back then this country was strategically deficient insofar as water was concerned.

With the change in administration in 1987, a wave of investment came about to tackle this problem of water shortage. The vision was that Malta had to rely less and less on ground water and more and more on technological breakthroughs such as reverse osmosis to convert sea water into potable water.

With time, fresh water supply in homes became an assurance. People enjoyed a better quality of life by having their share of fresh water on a daily basis. After this came the need to focus on maximising the efficiency of reverse osmosis plants and the distribution network. With the investment going on in these areas the fresh water demand reduced drastically and losses through the network halved. Notwithstanding, consumer demand continued to be satisfied.

We are not, however, home and dry yet! Malta continues to be vulnerable because of water. Just because fresh water is readily available at the turn of a tap it does not mean that we may treat it without concern. The top priorities now, different to what they were back then, are to conserve as much as possible, to continue to reduce the demand and to tap into an existing resource which presently is still being dumped at sea.

The policy document launched by the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs maps out a vision aimed at building upon the success of the last 20 years. “A proposal for a Water Policy for the Maltese Islands” is a policy document launched for a six-week consultation period where­by 12 policy areas are being presented. The vision is ambitious. For example, it is contemplated that if we tap resourcefully into treated sewage effluent the agricultural sector will not rely on ground water for its raw material at certain times of the year.

The policy does not only contemplate further investment. It banks upon the understanding of individuals within the domestic, commercial and agricultural sector to treat this resource prudently. Further education is contemplated so that we are able to do more and more with less and less. The availability of groundwater must be preserved and it is for this reason that my ministry has already launched a series of initiatives to monitor the take up and quality of ground water around Malta and to direct and conserve flood waters where this is economically viable. Fixing meters to boreholes is not a revenue exercise. It allows the competent authority to monitor the volume of water extracted during times of the year.

Farmers too must understand that the conservative use of water will help them financially. Pumping water into agricultural produce over and above what is essential is a source of disease. It is also a compromise between a higher yield and an inferior quality. Over and above, farmers must continue to harvest more rain water. More than 80 farmers have already done so successfully by tapping into the EU rural development funds we made available for them.

The commercial sector too needs to face up to the challenge. It is great for me to visit hotels and manufacturing plants that are serious in water conservation. Grey water is already being purified for second class purposes in a number of hotels while manufacturing plants that rely heavily on the use of water have started to recycle this too. Audits are contemplated so that areas of improvement are easily identified.

At a domestic level more needs to be done to entice people to make use of wells where these are available and to have new ones built ­in new developments. Incentive schemes for the former are contemplated while for the latter the inclusion of wells in new developments contributes towards a better energy performance ­certificate.

The challenges ahead continue to be huge. As with all other sectors, this government will not shy away from implementing that which is of benefit to the public at large and our future generations. The sensitivity of water for a nation that is facing an era of climate change will continue to stay high on the government’s agenda. The document that has just been launched for consultation maps the way that we intend to embark upon.

The author is Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs