Plug that hole now
Great land this of ours—I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Well not it because it’s not as if I own it. But grand as our land is, if one were to imagine it being a boat, it has a few holes too many for comfort. The buoyancy is threatened by silly holes which are never plugged or even acknowledged. And I don’t just mean our cute pot-holes.
Take our water situation.
Beyond anyone’s memory and maybe even way beyond that, Malta has experienced water scarcity. The knights built aqueducts and modern politicians miraculously changed our sea into water. And we now have enough water to flush, shower and keep sort of sane. This, unlike normal miracles, costs incredible amounts of money—turning the sea into water gets our energy bill to rocket to a mad degree. But, as long as when we turn the tap water flows, who’s complaining?
But—and here the usual but butts in—life is never that simple. Recently I heard something about water which astonished me. It seems up to 40% of all our water production is not accounted for—through leaks and other losses. The other losses, I presume, refer to water which is produced, consumed and never paid for.
The numbers are astounding. And what is more unbelievable is that no one heading the water services authority, or government, commented or asked for heads to roll or be drowned.
Nobody seemed to make much of a scene about it—not even we, the ones who pay our exorbitant bills and therefore subsidise the losses or thievery of the water. And if a big scene was made I missed it so do please excuse me. If the figures are wrong—and please God let them be wrong—let’s hear it from someone in authority. If they are right dear good God we are mad then—we have a gaping hole and all we do is move on as if nothing is the matter.
Plug the hole before we lose our buoyancy and it’s too late to do anything.
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Antoine Vella
Jul 5th 2012, 15:42
Thanks to the installation of automated meters, there will be less and less water consumed but not accounted for.
As regards the real losses (i.e. water lost due to leakages), the Water Services Corporation has, for the past years, embarked on a sustained and systematic campaign to reduce them.
This is the present situation:
"leakage in the Maltese Islands is reaching a level where it is not feasible to try to continue to reduce, which effectively means that the cost to stop the leakage is higher than the cost to produce water. "
http://www.wsc.com.mt/sites/default/files/annual_report_2010_-_Water_Operations.pdf
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Jul 5th 2012, 15:17
It seesm that our water authority is not all that competent when it comes to saving water and planning for the future. The recelt statement made by the CEO that Malta will always have water was astounding to most people and shows a lack of determination to solve the water issue. What I cannot understand is that we have some people who are highly knowledgeable when it comes to water matters and yet our government does not consult them. I wonder why?
Mr Henry A. Grima
Jul 5th 2012, 14:20
Very good and valid points.
There is another glaring aspect of water wastage, literally going down the drain, after it's been turned into potable water.
At the moment in Marsaskala, there are three streets awash with good recycled water.
Two of them are in Triq St Anna and one in Triq Gebel Hanxul, all of them making a mess of the streets, and making cycling and motor cycling dangerous, apart from pedestrians on the kerb being drenched with the dirty puddles when traffic goes by.
It is my opinion that the massive Arriva buses are to blame; they are too heavy for our village roads which originally were used by horse-drawn carts and cars.
Putting the plastic water pipes too near the surface does not help either.
They should be buried at least a foot down, in plastic pipes and enclosed in cement.
But then the contractors will not be called again to repair their shoddy work.
They must in cahoots with the road upgrading contractors, because every time they 'repair' a water leak, there is either a pothole or a bump in the road. It's like going over the moonscape driving over them.
Is anybody ever responsible for anything?
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Jul 5th 2012, 12:46
Why should any head roll? No one does in this country - no prime miniuster caught with his hands in the cookie jar. no PM who said he takes responsibility for the amavassdor's actions when he (the PM) appointed hiom, no Minister unless forced to resign by parliament, no banker even after being fined and told off by the regulator, no one, nobody in authority ever resigns. Why should anyone else?
Franco Farrugia
Jul 5th 2012, 10:22
Well written! You missed out on one very salient point, Mr Calleja.
It's the fact that water does not come free of charge. Not even cheap, it doesn't. Most of the water we use domestically is sea-water turned into potable water by our reverse-osmosis plants which, and this is the news, which gulp a good portion of the electricity that we use on these islands. So, water comes at a very heavy price.
Not only that.
This water reaches our taps but we seldom drink it. We use it for all other things, even to hose-pipe our drive-ways and cars, but not for drinking.
But, you see, the water that is produced by our plants has to be of a very high quality (EU) since it has to be deemed of a high quality as potable water - but again, it's seldom drunk.
Why?
Because we, Maltese, have grown used, now, to buy water in plastic-bottles, and there's a price for that, too.
And, you may ask, where does all this plastic-bottled water come from?
Haha!
A very good portion of it, if not the greater part, comes from our own natural resource - the water-table. Ever been driving up or down the Imriehel By-pass? Ever seen that lay-by in between, where a water-bowser visit, three, four times a day? And whose water is that, I ask.
Better not answer.
ANTHONY PAVIA
Jul 5th 2012, 12:41
I would rather have you answer! It might give light to Mrs Cachia "water theft etc" statement!
Anna Maria Cachia
Jul 5th 2012, 10:21
Actually this is a very valid point. One thing I hate to see is waste of water in any form and always think how ridiculous it is to see all the volumes of water pouring into the sea whenever it rains. I realise you are talking about leaks, water theft etc. but something really should be done about the volumes of 'run-off' wasted. Also what happened to that age old law going back to the time of the Knights, or before, about every house having to have a well??
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