Matthew Xuereb’s article Water From Sewage Is No Longer A Pipedream (March 23) has raised many queries and interest in a subject often discussed by the farming community in Żejtun who until 12 years ago were already supplied with second-class water from treated sewage.
The first plant to treat sewage effluent was constructed at Sant’Antnin in the limits of Żejtun/Marsascala in the late 1970s and started operating in the early 1980s. Although by present day standards it is a small plant it pumped treated sewage effluent to four reservoirs, three on high rural ground surrounding the southeast, Żejtun, Żabbar and Delimara for irrigation purposes and one for industrial use in Bulebel between Żejtun and Fgura.
Policies should never be proposed without proper consultation
For many years this system operated well and was a boon for agriculture in the southeast. Treated sewage effluent was much better than second-class water and farmers resorted to various devices to obtain it before others either when it was being pumped up to the reservoirs or when, gravity wise, it ran down the kilometres of water channels constructed over rubble walls.
At the start of the new millennium the system encountered an unexpected obstacle. The treated effluent supplied to the plant had changed from one relatively free of saline content to one with a high level of salinity. The Sant’Antnin plant was not equipped to purify the saline content and the water which continued to be pumped up the reservoirs and delivered for irrigation via the water channels ruined crops, impoverished the soil and did untold harm to vines, olive trees and even carobs.
Many farmers gave up. Those who refused to call it a day resorted to boreholing between 2002 and 2008, with the result that in the rural areas round Żejtun there are over 100 registered boreholes and two second-class WSC boreholes. By 2010 this other source also came a cropper. The water from boreholes is now also unsuitable for proper direct irrigation. Already in 2000 the WSC borehole in Ħal-Tmiem had to be put offline because of consistently high nitrate and chloride levels. Twelve years later the water extracted from boreholes is surely not better.
The Ta’ Barkat modern plant for sewage effluent can, as described by WSC CEO Marc Muscat, become a boon for irrigation in the southeast. Once a good amount of the treated effluent is polished in a reverse osmosis plant instead of thrown into the sea, the recouped second-class water can be pumped into the nearby San Anard reservoir which is already connected to the Sant’Antnin station. From Sant’Antnin this can be pumped up to the other reservoirs and so reactivate the old system. Naturally there are problems since an amount of water channels have now been abandoned and need to be replaced by an improved pipework supply chain. There could be other technical problems but these could be overcome.
This is one of the recommendations in the Żejtun sustainability report which will be published in due course. One important study deals with water sustainability in Żejtun prepared by hydrologist Marco Cremona. Żejtun farmers and others in the southeast are clamouring for irrigation water which is now within reach yet seems so far.
The infrastructure in our area has been in existence since the 1980s and would require millions of euros if it were to be constructed today. Hence the way forward should not be that difficult. This proposal was brought up for discussion with Mr Muscat by mayor Joe Attard during the environment seminar organised by the Curia last December. Once the large-scale model for the Xgħajra reverse osmosis has already been designed, Mr Muscat should be more forthcoming on their issues. Many are asking why this did not feature in the last budget. Maybe this depends on the availability of EU funds which have yet to be confirmed.
On the other hand the declaration that water for irrigation produced at Ta’ Barkat will have to be paid for has created a state of confusion when it is still official policy that boreholes for agriculture purposes will be metered but not taxed. Any farmer who could have considered opting for polished sewage effluent in lieu of free third-class borehole water is at a loss.
Such proposals kill any hope of a revival in our ailing farming community. Policies should never be proposed piecemeal and without proper consultation with all stakeholders.
The Żejtun local council will continue to put forward the needs and aspirations of those who still have at heart, and work in, our rural areas.