Licence fee for usage of private pools

Further to previous correspondence on the subject, I want to clarify that, although I am against paying any fees on the private usage of pools, I am very aware of the water problem in Malta. However, the principle of this licence fee, according to the Malta Resources Authority, is on usage of the private pool not on water usage.

This is why it makes this fee more ridiculous as it makes me ask/pay for a permission to use a structure in my private property and it does not tax a bit the consumption of water being extracted.

All pool owners would have a well next to their pool and connect the reservoir to the pool to top it up accordingly from one’s own collected water. Sometimes, there is a shortage of rain and I refill my well, not my pool, by calling a water bowser, whose business in extracting water is only just lately being drawn into the picture. We pay money for this water and have nothing for free.

House owners who have no pool but have a garden all water their trees and plants in summer and, being in dry Malta, they do it also in winter.

They collect water in the same way as us and end up buying water to replenish their wells in the dry season as well. Water consumption in gardening is way much more in volume than in pools as pools retain their water by treating it every week for Ph and chlorine balance to keep it clear and usable for years. So what licence fee do garden owners have to pay? Wouldn’t it be equally ridiculous to have them pay a permit for their gardening?

This fee is no different from the satellite dishes’ fee. It is an intrusion in private property, it taxes something no other western country does and is a totally ineffective tool against water wastage.