Storm water reservoir will recharge aquifer

A massive reservoir being built in Gżira will store 10,000 cubic metres of storm water and will be used to recharge the aquifer, Resources Minister George Pullicino said yesterday.

The three-storey-deep reservoir will take water flowing through Wied Għollieqa, once a tunnel to channel rainwater coming from Kappara and San Ġwann is completed.

This tunnel will branch into another 11-kilometre rainwater tunnel from Wied Inċita, Attard, all the way to Ta’ Xbiex. It will have a diameter which varies between 3.3 metres and six metres.

Similar tunnels are planned to collect rainwater in the area of Żebbuġ, and another with a 3.2-kilometre-stretch from Żabbar to Marsascala.

During a visit to the site of the reservoir near the National Pool, Mr Pullicino explained it is part of a major EU-funded flood-relief project to channel rainwater away from flood-prone areas. It is expected to be completed by March.

He said the new reservoir will be a soak-away facility, which will not actually store rainwater for long but would allow it to percolate down to recharge the water table.

The tunnel passing underneath the Regional Road will hold water until it can be pumped into the reservoir to continue recharging the aquifer.

The top of the reservoir will be used for parking.

In all, the flood relief project will be able to hold and recycle up to 700,000 cubic metres of rainwater every year compared to the present storage capacity of 210,000 cubic metres.

The project costs €57 million, most of which is being funded by EU cohesion funds.

The project also includes a number of culverts and new bridges in Qormi.