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Malta's water resources extremely low

Issues concerning water quality and quantity are being tackled in the Water Catchment Management Plan, launched today between the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and the Malta Resources Authority

The plan includes measures aimed to improve the quality of water, especially ground water.

It notes that most of the water in reservoirs was impossible to reach a good status by the EU’s 2015 targets because of salinity and nitrates.

Water took 40 years to filter itself to the water table and the directive too this into account, pushing back Malta’s deadline to 2027, Manuel Sapiano, from the MRA said.

While ground nitrates would be reduced, more fresh water would be pumped into the water table.

The plan also proposed incentives for rain water harvesting, the restoration of dams and valleys.

Environment Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco said that while Malta’s available rate of water per capita was 58 metres cubed, the EU considered 2,000 metres cubed per capita as ‘very low water resources’.

This was a very ambitious plan for Malta and a lot of its success depended on individual cooperation

Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino noted that the €56 million flood relief project, which had been taken in hand, would double the amount of stored water in Malta.

Sewage treatment plant water, he said, was being tested in a pilot project to see if this could be used to replenish the aquifer. This should increase the amount of water in the water table by 11 million cubic metres a year.

Mr Pullicino said that there were political decisions which have to be taken.

If the Water Services Corporation, for example, had to be told to stop using water from the aquifer and rely exclusively on reverse osmosis plants, it would cost households an additional €9 million a year in water bills. The decision not to opt for such a measure had been taken, he said.

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carmelo borg

Mar 22nd 2011, 23:39

Bil makkinarju li hawn illum facli w mallajr jithaffru jibjuni kbar fejn hemm inzul bhal per ezempju in-nizla tar-Rabat tan -Naxxar tal-Mosta tal-wied ta Birkirkara u hafna ohrajn. Dawn il-qieh tahhom jkun anke imtaqqab bore holes biex b'hekk l-ilma ma jibqax sejjer fil bahar imma jinzel gol-water table. Anke dawk il water galleys li jkun hemm mal gnub tat-toroq kull tant tul jkun hemm bore holes biex ukoll jiskula fil-water table immagina kemm insalvaw ilma tax-xita milli jibqa sejjer il bahar.

Marco Cremona

Mar 22nd 2011, 18:48

I find it disgusting that you use this opportunity to ridicule somebody who's bed-ridden and unable to respond. At least Dom Mintoff, with all his defects, had sustainable concepts in his mind and did what he preached - yes, he built a reservoir one storey below the roof, to save the electrical energy needed to distribute the water within the house. What's there to ridicule? What have you ever proposed with regards to water sustainability, Mr. DeMartino? For the record, way back in 1983, Dom Mintoff also had the foresight to build a wastewater treatment plant (Sant Antnin) to use treated sewage effluent for irrigation in the south of Malta. Indeed, agriculture in the south largely exists because of this renewable source of water. And what about the tens of roadside reservoirs and soakaways which prevent flooding and enhance groundwater recharge built in the 1970s? And the fact that Dom Mintoff introduced reverse osmosis technology in 1982 on which we still depend (I say over-depend) today. I am not a supporter of Dom Mintoff, but probability no other politician in Malta comes close to his vision on water sustainability.

C Scerri

Mar 22nd 2011, 19:35

Intant kulhadd bit-tankijiet fuq il-bejt baqa fl-2011.....
Ahjar jghidilina meta se jaghmel xi haga sura fuq din il-problema mhux kollna vizjonijiet u azzjoni XEJN.

Joseph Carmel Chetcuti

Mar 23rd 2011, 05:19

Well, we in Australia are encouraged to have water tanks on properties. Why does it always have to go back to Mintoff? Because he put you little shits in your place and no leader has come anywhere near him. The ruling elite in Malta enjoy the spoils while the country suffers.

GiovDeMartino

Mar 23rd 2011, 11:27

Of course Mintoff did what he preached! He labelled himself as professors of democracy and we all know what kind of democracy we had then!
Mintoff did a lot to solve the problem: He gave us a telephone no where we could contact the water bowser!
He also threatened to dismantle the desalinasation plants and sent them at the door of the Minister.
I do hope that all readers know that tanks on the roofs are not filled directly from heavens.

Marco Cremona

Mar 23rd 2011, 16:06

@ GiovDemartino

I repeat - What have you ever proposed with regards to water sustainability, Mr. DeMartino? With the benefit of hindsight as to Dom Mintoff's mistakes, what are YOU proposing with respect to water management? Very easy and convenient to be an armchair critic isn't it (Not that you're good at that either!) ?

Antoine Vella

Mar 22nd 2011, 20:38

F.Borg, valleys are not 'artificial rivers" they are natural ones. And the Chadwick lakes are not a river.

Moreover, deep narrow valleys were never cultivated intensively because they are not "breadbaskets" at all. In fact you would not be able to grow any cereals in them.

Antoine Vella

Mar 22nd 2011, 20:32

Prof Mallia, the comments section is not the right place to discuss the siting of the sewage treatment plants so i won't go into the matter at length but I can tell you that you and your friends should think much harder about the implications of what you suggest. You need to let go of preconceived ideas and look at the matter more rationally and, to use a buzzword, 'holistically'.

The siting of the plants was actually the best decision that could be made.

Astrid Vell1

Mar 22nd 2011, 21:36


The mistake of siting the sewage treatment plant at ic-Cumnija, beyond Mellieha, was repeatedly pointed out by Marco Cremona during the planning stage. He stressed all along that it should be close to end-users of 2nd class water, like the farmers at Miziep. Sure enough our best brains on this matter were ignored (as was always the case, thankfully now changing), and now we're told that it's too far to pump it back to the farmers. How Antoine Vella can conclude that "The siting of the plants was actually the best decision that could be made." is a mystery.

I also need help understanding "Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino noted that the €56 million flood relief project, which had been taken in hand, would double the amount of stored water in Malta." At the MEPA session I attended we were told that the project as presently proposed makes no provision for water storage which MAY (or may not) come at a later stage. So far all that's planned is to throw the storm-water in the sea at Ta' Xbiex. So where does doubling the amount of stored water come into it?

Marco Cremona

Mar 22nd 2011, 23:45

@ Antoine Vella.

"The siting of the plants was actually the best decision that could be made." Made in the context of what? On what criteria is this claim based? Economic ? Financial? Sustainability? Environmental? Or because we cannot think outside the box? and couldn't think beyond what the EU Urban Water Directive obllges us to do - when as Hon. Mario DeMarco correctly pointed out we only have 58 m3/capita/day or renewable water sources when Europeans consider any country having less than 2,000 m3/cap/day as a country suffering from 'water scarcity' ?

It is probably one of the least 'holistic' decision ever taken in the history of water management in the country.

Franco Farrugia

Mar 22nd 2011, 15:57

Tista' forsi, jekk joghgbok, tnehhi dawk il-CAPS? Pastazata kbira li tikteb kumment shieh hekk. Ikber u tghallem, jekk joghgbok.

Anthony Formosa

Mar 22nd 2011, 16:53

@ Franco Farrugia, Pastazata kbira hija l-hela ta ilma tax-xita u mhux il-caps, pastazata kbira hija l'istorja ta "jekk tkisser sewwi" li tant fahhart int. Jekk joghogbok tilghabix tas-surmast grazzi, sewwa jaghmel jikteb caps forsi xi darba xi hadd jisma ghax hawn kullhadd trux.

Antoine Vella

Mar 22nd 2011, 17:20

It is not at all easy to turn quarries into water reservoirs. First of all, disused quarries are being used for agricultural purposes, after being partly filled with rubble and topsoil.

The rubble now being placed in quarries would have to be placed somewhere else: another landfill.

Thirdly, it is very costly to transport water from places like Msida valley and Marsa to the Qrendi area. How is the floodwater going to be collected and transported?

With all due respect, C.N,Aquilina,technical solutions and decisions should be left to trained technical personnel. You probably have good intentions (apart from your sorry attempt to invent some 'ulterior motive' story) but very poor understanding of the situation.

Marco Cremona

Mar 23rd 2011, 00:08

@Antoine Vella.
You absolutely baffle me. You say that "it is very costly to transport water from places like Msida valley and Marsa to the Qrendi area" but then you say in Prof.Mallia's post that "the siting of the(sewage treatment) plants was actually the best decision that could be made".

For the benefit of who's not informed on the subject-matter, the powers that be decided to treat 90%of Malta's sewage in a single sewage-treatment-plant at one end of Malta, when Malta's agricultural land lies at the other end.This plant had the potential to provide 20 million cubic-metres of treated effluent in all-year-round, whereas stormwater is only available in winter when agriculture doesn't need water. For all this water to be used we now will need to pump it all the way back to Siggiewi and further. Agriculture needs (and today pumps up) 20 million cubic metres of water a year. Any secondary school student could have made 1 plus 1 together and come to the conclusion that agricultural water demand can only be met through the use of this alternative source of water, but this is beyond the intellect of "trained technical personnel" of the likes of AntoineVella.

Alfred Grech

Mar 23rd 2011, 01:07

Antoine, unfortunately the "trained technical personnel" don't seem to have a solution and/or knowledge so suggestions from the public should not be ignored and discarded.

A lot of rain water ends up in the sea. So far no one has been able to find a way how to catch a big chunk of it.

Antoine Vella

Mar 23rd 2011, 12:41

Marco Cremona, someday I'll get round to writing an article about the siting of the sewage treatment plants.

Antoine Vella

Mar 23rd 2011, 12:42

When I mentioned trained professional personnel I was not referring to myself.

E Galea

Mar 22nd 2011, 15:25

Mosta is on higher grounds. You will need large pumps to transfer that amount of water to higher grounds since by gravity it would move towards the sea. Nevertheless, I agree with you. The problem is the capacity of the pumps needed and their efficiency.

joseph degabriele

Mar 22nd 2011, 15:47

Same is happening from zabbar to m'scala.A tunnel is being dug from m'scala road to the sea between m'scala and xghajra.When shall we start digging large underground reservoirs??
Joe

C Gatt

Mar 22nd 2011, 15:29

"the people with the ability to take decisions always ignored him."

Therein lies the problem: incompetent and/or couldn't-care-less people taking short-cut decisions (or no decisions) because a) it is safer ( quote: isn't that what my predecessor did? unquote), b) its less work (quote: let someone else do the thinking tomorrow, after all I probably won't be around anyway, unquote) and c) they don't have to face the music later as their backsides will be covered by those around them (quote: you scratch my back or I won't scratch your unquote)

And the best news is you can see it happen in all sectors: education, vat department, the legal sector, the irresponsible private sector, etc.

Alfred Grech

Mar 22nd 2011, 15:30

Your brother is Maltese and he offered his advice for free so it won't satisfy the authorities. He has to be a foreigner charging thousands of euros in order that his advice will be considered.

Raymond Cutajar

Mar 23rd 2011, 06:08

On parallel lines ;Serious air pollution, mainly by trucks and cars on the road.
Camouflaged talks and as they say bla bla bla and still those responsabile still at their undeserved posts after years of proof that for example one of the real issue of the VRT was to tackle exhaust gas smoke /emissions.
The in intr. of the smoke alert SMS issue is proof of that and still LTD / TM managed to mock it with imunity and complete disregard to whoever was responsabile to launch it Pathetic
And heads instead of rolling are allowed to ignore the inteligence of the p!ublic
"Hallihom huma jgergru u ahna naghmlu li RRIDU "
that is the norm of public service tragically so far
Here both issues can literally be touched , their negative affects are being felt on a daily basis and those responsabile are Never made to answer and dealth with accordingly
This clearly shows lack of professionalism at the highest level of Governance

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