Order is issued to close 200 household boreholes

Mr Marco Cremona

Apr 27th 2011, 23:16

I think my position on the matter of private boreholes was always very clear and I'm glad government is taking concrete measures to curb this abuse.
See http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101108/local/private-boreholes-a-social-injustice.335158

It must be pointed out that ALL boreholes in the Maltese Islands (except the WSC ones) - whether they are registered or unregistered, agricultural or non-agricultural - are ILLEGAL as none of them has a license to pump out groundwater (even if registration fees are paid). Which means that I expect government to clamp down on all private boreholes, irrespective of the use.

From a purely technical point of view, the abstraction of a litre of groundwater from a borehole pumping water to fill a swimming pool causes as much damage as one pumping a litre for bottling purposes, and as one pumping water the same litre for agriculture. So government cannot discriminate between one user and another.

Mr Tony Camilleri

Apr 27th 2011, 15:55

Why are the soft drinks and water bottling companies allowed to steal, for that is the word, steal our water at extremely cheap rates and not made to have their own reverse osmosis plants?
As usual in Malta, the authorities are strong with the weak and weak with the strong.

Mr pacifico galea

Apr 27th 2011, 13:13

XIi haga tajba fl ahhar imma mid dehra ghaz zghir biss ghax il kumpaniji il kbar li jbieghu lilma fil flixken dawn mid derha se jibqu jaghmlu li jridu ghax il ligi harget ghal house hold boreholes biss saret din. dawn il kumpaniji ilhom itelghu ilma ghax ghexiren ta snin u bxejn ara kemm hadu flus min fuq il poplu Malti tali serqu lilma mil pjan imbad reghu thalsu tieghu meta xtrah il poplu hehe tajba din ux u mid dehra se jkomplu sejrin bija

Mr william cauchi

Apr 27th 2011, 11:46

There a two comments i like to way and no way am i condoning those who had dug the boreholes illegally.

First is that the biggest users of these boreholes are not private users who use this water to water their plants or top up the pool, but the big mineral drinking water producers who have been pumping up water for free for decades, never paid a penny, but then charge us.

Secondly i have two big underground cisterns, which cost a penny to build, in which i store the winter's rain. This is used mostly for topping up my pool and for watering my plants. So instead of letting the rain water run into the street, i save it. However then i am charged a hefty sum yearly for using this same rain water in my pool by the Malta Resources Authority.

Sabiha din.

Mr Joseph Aquilina

Apr 27th 2011, 10:08

Good decision by the Government. These people have been robbing the country of precious water for their own benefit, bypassing water bills.

On the contrary, some companies are being left to drill for water and SELLING it to us as bottled water. This is even more serious. They are not only robbing the country, they are SELLING it to us at exorbitant prices. Their cost of "material" is nil, except for the bottle.

Apart from metering the water these companies are sourcing, what will the authorities be doing to curb this abuse. After all, the quantity of water these companies pump out of the ground is far more than what the private household were pumping.

Has Mr Marco Cremona held any study about this abuse, or is it again that the Govt is strong with the weak and weak with the strong?

D. A . Agius

Apr 27th 2011, 08:54

Finally something done to protect the country's groundwater.

Now, what should be encouraged is for people who used this groundwater for watering gardens is to start preparing so that by the next winter, they prepare cisterns and methods to hold rainwater runoff.

My personal experience. I have had a spare simple 500Litre water tank located on my washroom which I modified so that any rain falling on it would be stored. By gravity, a simple pipe gives me access to this water, which I use for watering plants.

For a normal household, it's practically enough to last me well into summer, at least based on the experience of the last two years.

If you increase the water catchment area (such as rainwater runoff from your washroom, or if possible, from your roof) the amount of water will be increased multiple of times over!

From another place where i fixed something like this, about 5 square metres of roof space for water catchment and a few of days of moderate rain, I managed to have a 1,000 litre tank filled. Simple, not much expensive and provides for moderate use. With a little co-operation, people living close together may pool up resources as well.

If one the other hand you have a Palace of Versailles sized garden, then obviously you have to think in larger terms, such as an underground cistern in a backyard or garden, again channelling all available rainwater runoff.

The key is to use the rainwater that currently is wasted in runoff water, and if possible reduce water usage to what is needed most.