Rooftop tanks are supplying free water
Conference told that 56,000 new meters have been installed so far
Water tanks are costing the Water Services Corporation a lot of money.
Non-registration of water pumped into rooftop tanks is expected to be more than halved after all the water meters are changed, a conference heard yesterday.
No less than 18 per cent of water in rooftop tanks is currently undetected and therefore uncharged.
The figure is expected to be brought down to seven per cent, Ronald Pace from the Water Services Corporation told a conference on the subject.
The small trickles of water into the tank when it is filling up go undetected by the water meter, with the corporation dismissing it as “unavoidable”.
The conference was organised as part of the corporation’s 20th anniversary and brought together local and foreign experts to discuss non-revenue water – water produced or fed by the corporation into the system but which is not paid for by the consumer.
Mr Pace, who is responsible for dealing with such leakages as well as the roll-out of the Automated Metering Management project, said 56,000 meters have been installed so far – more than 50 per cent of the total.
All meters installed before 2003 will be changed, bringing down the average age of the meters from 9.2 years to around six years.
He said the new meters will go a long way towards reducing the amount of undetected water although even brand new meters were failing to detect such low flows.
Asked whether this could ever be solved, Stephen Galea St John, responsible for leakage management, said rooftop tanks, although unnecessary because the level of service has improved considerably, seem to be there to stay.
“There are other methods of decreasing the water losses by installing a device inside the actual tank but this has to be done at the mercy of customers so we are not seeing it as a possible solution,” he said.
Mr Galea St John said the demand of 160,000 cubic metres of water per day in the 1990s had halved, despite an increase in population.
The corporation supplies water through 90 boreholes in Malta and 30 in Gozo, 10 pumping stations in Malta and two in Gozo and three reverse osmosis plants which are not run at their full capacity. A total of 45 per cent of the water is supplied through boreholes with the rest supplied by reverse osmosis plants.
The new meters will result in more frequent and accurate billing and a substantial decrease in water which is not billed.
Factors of ‘no revenue water’ include theft, although this was limited, and meter reading and billing mistakes.
The new meters transmit data remotely every four hours, enabling the corporation to detect a problem when variations between consumption and supply varied considerably.
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Joe Fenech
Nov 18th 2012, 09:04
What about the beverages companies who pump up water from the water table?
Raphael Dingli
Nov 18th 2012, 02:16
According to the statistics quoted the are ZERO liters of water from any rain catchment. Surely this not an surmountable issue. There must be some percentage captured in underground wells surely.
Giov DeMartino
Nov 17th 2012, 18:44
What Mr Galea St John did not say is that when we report a water leak, sometimes it takes several days before this leak is fixed. Not only that: but very often Water Serv. personnel visit the leak, paint a large arrow or W near this leak, and then other employees come to fix this leak several days later. Continued
Ronald Borg
Nov 17th 2012, 20:07
And? From what I gather, the damage was verified and marked out to be excavated. Do you expect to see workers immediately on the spot? I hope the water services do not employ so many excess workers that each and every complaint is seen to in 10 minutes!!! Has it ever occured to you that there may be other emergencies? Of course not. you are just an armchair critic!
Charles Spiteri
Nov 17th 2012, 20:51
Truly so. I have reported leaks on weekends and no one from the Water Services Corporation seemed to take any notice, apart taking the report and the water left leaking for day after another.
Giov DeMartino
Nov 18th 2012, 11:14
Yes, of course, Mr Borg is right! Leaving thousands of liters of water going down the drain for more than a week is acceptable! Very often there is no need to put any marks because large quantities of water seeping out from the tarmac can be easily seen. No one mentioned the 10 minutes, Mr Borg, but waiting for ten days to fix the leak is quite normal.
Robert Calafato
Nov 17th 2012, 18:13
As I type this comment, here in Mensija San Gwann we have no mains water supply. Our only salvation is our roof top tank!
When WSC can guarantee a regular EU standard supply of water at the EU specified pressure, ONLY then will I remove my roof top tank!
Pippo de Marco
Nov 17th 2012, 19:17
I think there's more chance of you getting a second or even third water tank, Robert :-)
George Busuttil
Nov 17th 2012, 18:12
I know of another way water is wasted and not paid for. I reported at t=our locaal council office water coming out of the pavement in front of our house in Marsaskala more than three weeks ago and no one turned up to fix it
B. Farrugia
Nov 17th 2012, 17:37
I save water actually by filling the tank from my well to flush the loo and now i have finished modifications to biologicall and physically filter most of my grey water and use it to flush too.
B. Farrugia
Nov 17th 2012, 17:34
If the lid is kept open you can increase the amount of free water.
Ms. P.M Graham
Nov 17th 2012, 17:12
Love to know who is paying for the "trickle" in Pembroke right now whilst we have no water it's pouring down hill for two days straight to St Julians. Whose meter is clocking up that lot? Best not be mine, the price I pay.
Carmel Debono
Nov 17th 2012, 16:30
Mr. Gatt WHY not bring your house in order first?
At Triq il Virdun Kappara water from a burst main has been draining out in the street for many weeks now, but of course nobody cares or is accountable!
This is just a case i happen to know, God knows how many similar cases there may be!
B. Farrugia
Nov 17th 2012, 16:50
Don`t worry they are just recharging the water table.
john muscat
Nov 17th 2012, 15:26
So what? The PM said that the electricity bill received was ZERO, then the water is going to be zero too. lol.
saviour ellul-bonici
Nov 17th 2012, 14:17
Oh! Mr Pace and Mr Galea St John I love this malarkey . How about the illegal mass pumping from the water table by the ' Bowser Barons' are your new meters going to detect these as well? Doesn't this harm your corporation???
JR Apap
Nov 17th 2012, 13:21
Malta at last is waken up to the scroungers. well done Malta keep it up Malta, and not all for one and none for all. Everyone should pay their share, although its hard for any Maltese including banks to depart with their money caue they hold on to it like super glue, this will cut them down to size.
Mariella Galea
Nov 17th 2012, 12:33
and who is going to give us the money of when the meter has nothing to count but air... nearly every day it's more than 30 minutes of high preasure air coming through the pipes and the meter simply goes crazy and it definatelys goes forward. Any refunds there?
vincent Lia
Nov 17th 2012, 21:27
No no refunds but Mariella you should use the 'the high pressure air coming through the pipes' to pump your car tyres. There are many other gadgets that can be driven off this air and you can save on electricity. Good luck.
A M Bonello
Nov 17th 2012, 12:25
"Mr Galea St John said the demand of 160,000 cubic metres of water per day in the 1990s had halved, despite an increase in population"
This is because the tap water is so undrinkable people are reverting to buying water from the private sector.
Clean drinking water must be provided by the government to help those that cant afford buying water off the ever increasing rip off private sectors.
Ray Buhagiar
Nov 17th 2012, 13:18
People are washing less cars, and even housewives do not wash floors, windows on a daily basis as they used to in the 90s. People are learning fast how to preserve water. Pity the WSC hasn't learned much except installing new meters.
Joe Scerri
Nov 17th 2012, 12:10
And what about the water bottling companies, will they still be getting water for free and making a profit out if it?
Joseph Vassallo, (Bugibba)
Nov 17th 2012, 14:20
I suppose the water corporation can always start charging the bottlers for what they take but these will increase the price of your bottled water to cover their cost. Six of one and half-a-dozen of the other to them,Mr Scerri.
But consumers will end up paying the charge and a percentage of profit for the bottlers as well.
Pauline Peterson
Nov 17th 2012, 12:06
Is it possible to have the new meters outside, like they do in most countries? Then people don't have to take a day off work, just because the meter reader is supposed to come and read the meters.
Why not have both water and electricity meters outside the house?
Joe Grech
Nov 17th 2012, 12:01
What about the millions of gallons of potable water being pumped illegally from the national water aquifiers by speculators with our sleep P.N. government just looking the other way? Malta has a serious Water Crisis but our Prime Minister and Cabinet just do not care!
Water pumped out illegally and for free is then sold to us. Mr. P.M. explain this situation to the Maltese on Facebook....
J Martinelli
Nov 17th 2012, 13:51
Mr Grech, if the present govt. is 'sleeping' regarding the water issue, was the government in a coma or in a vegetative state when not even a trickle flowed from our kitchen taps? When bowsers supplied water when and if at all? When the famous solution to no water at shower-heads or toilet was to tell people to bathe at sea and use sea water to flush toilets?
You're worried about 'free water'?
Pavlaki Pano Aroditis
Nov 17th 2012, 14:05
Yes, Mr Grech. Mr Martinelli is absolutely right. What about the time some 200 years ago when Malta didn't have piped water? And what about when people only washed once a week with well-water? How dare you complain that millions of gallons are stolen pumped illegally under the noses of an incompetent administration? Please shut up and suffer in silence.
Giov DeMartino
Nov 17th 2012, 11:25
When the water bowser used to fill our tanks we were getting free water. That is why I always voted labour!
Dennis Agius
Nov 17th 2012, 13:39
ha ha ha..... good one.
Alfred Vassallo
Nov 17th 2012, 17:38
That's the spirit Don Giovanni. That's why labour always count on you!
Giov DeMartino
Nov 17th 2012, 18:25
U jaghmlu sewwa Fred!
Alfred Vassallo
Nov 17th 2012, 19:03
@Giov DeMartino
Bully int!
Luigi Cassar Manghi
Nov 17th 2012, 10:55
There IS one simple way to bypass the trickle effect of water tanks on meters. If WSC is interested I can give recommendation against a generous consultancy fee.
Alfred Vassallo
Nov 17th 2012, 11:54
Niiiiice.
Ronald Borg
Nov 17th 2012, 12:41
Really?
If your recommendations are as interesting as your comments below, forget it.
"Generous consultancy fee" my foot
George Joseph Cauchi
Nov 17th 2012, 13:11
The trickle effect of water thanks is the problem of WSC since pressure in the pipelines supplied by WSC is too low. In some areas roof thanks only get filled up during the night. I hope the Government won't waste more of our taxes on more consultancy fees.
Reuben D. Spiteri
Nov 17th 2012, 13:45
Mr Borg I 'think' he was being sarcastic.
m. borg (slm)
Nov 17th 2012, 10:52
Some might be but mine isn't last bill I got for water was infdicated as very high and I can't understand why as weused maybe a little more than usual being summer or otherwise the meter is mucked up.
I would love it if they could change the meter.
D. A . Agius
Nov 17th 2012, 16:53
Just report it as being faulty.
V. Cauchi
Nov 17th 2012, 10:45
Tanks were mainly installed when water pressure and supply were poor, a heirloom of WSC's predecessors. Yet intelligent thinking still seems to be rare. Why not employ a statistician to enquire about all items to be factored in, other than the no. of persons in a household, and come up with a completely new concept of rates? Why not involve Local Councils & develop a rate system for every premises
Luigi Cassar Manghi
Nov 17th 2012, 11:12
V. Cauchi: even if today's probability of interrupted mains water supply is reduced to 1/100,000 the effect of that one single event can be disastrous (for all ages). Suggesting removing water tanks is an ABOMINATION.
V. Cauchi
Nov 17th 2012, 12:11
@ LC Manghi
Sorry I am not suggesting removing tanks but simply recording history in the 70/80s. We need new ideas in this little island (and that for free) rather than the hurling of capitalized misinterpreted catchwords.
Mr Tony Gatt
Nov 17th 2012, 10:34
Someone I know has been asking WSC to have a look at her meter for months as it is registering nothing at all. all she gets is pious promises. No doubt she will be accused of trying to steal the water when they do come.
Mr Daniel Jones
Nov 17th 2012, 10:29
What about all the big corporations extracting water and not paying? I'm sure this amounts to more than the odd trickle into a rooftop tank from consumers.
Plus they then sell the same water back to us.
Luigi Cassar Manghi
Nov 17th 2012, 10:25
I think that households should charge the cost and maintenance of roof top water thanks to WSC, because it is the only sure buffer supply. Don't be ridiculous to suggest to remove them!
John Caligari
Nov 17th 2012, 10:23
More money to buy new Meters for a Blue eyed boy.
Charles Theuma
Nov 17th 2012, 10:21
And if water services focus instead on harvesting the excess water lost through the streets into the sea around us, maybe we will have a reversal of the situation and use less energy to convert sea water. Singapore built a fresh water reservoir by reclaiming from the sea...enough for a full year consumption of free water. This is the best use of taxpayers money not installing meters in tanks.
ANTHONY PAVIA
Nov 17th 2012, 16:51
But Government and its departments would rather gauge us against Greece, Italy and Ireland. How about some comparisons with successful nations, especially our size?
Luigi Cassar Manghi
Nov 17th 2012, 10:20
Never assume that water mains supply is infallible. Extended electricity power cuts affect R.O. plants, water pumps, and water supply to homes may cease. Unthinkable to remove tanks too.
Paul Micallef
Nov 17th 2012, 10:19
NO MONEY WHAT DO YOU EXPECT.
Luigi Cassar Manghi
Nov 17th 2012, 10:16
Changing water meters to limit undetected water consumption, and to have real time water meter readings is good. But to suggest removing water tanks is an ABOMINATION.
paul camilleri
Nov 17th 2012, 10:55
What are you on about??? who suggested to you that anyone one is going to remove water tanks from roofs? you need to read what is written and not let your imagination run away with you.
Luigi Cassar Manghi
Nov 17th 2012, 11:21
P.Camilleri: read article
"Stephen Galea St John, responsible for leakage management, said rooftop tanks, although unnecessary because the level of service has improved considerably, seem to be there to stay."
By inference he would like to remove them, if he could, because they are "unnecessary".
Reuben D. Spiteri
Nov 17th 2012, 13:42
"unnecessary"? I think NOT!
This is akin to saying that, just because roads have improved we should do away with spare tyres in our cars. Very, very clever I say...
Mr Mike Farrugia
Nov 17th 2012, 10:14
How about dealing with major water leaks more efficiently? Why let water run down streets for hours and hours before it is repaired or at least contained? Why does it have to be the night shift to do the repairs? An internal overtime scam comes to mind.
Charles Theuma
Nov 17th 2012, 10:14
Are the authorities contemplating charging households who pump water from wells into water tanks! Isn't this exactly the policy that each new building must have a well, for the harvesting of FREE rainwater? The judicious use of this water for washing during the rainy season saves hundreds of Euro, and it seems the water services corporation is bugged by this and wants meters in these water tanks.
Marco Cremona
Nov 17th 2012, 18:00
Charles, how did you get the impression that WSC wants to charge for rainwater?
Yes, WSC has a 'dislike' towards households collecting rainwater because this practice results in a loss of revenue for WSC - but the water regulator (and ultimate decision taker) is the Malta Resources Authority, which is in favour of rainwater harvesting, because it's way more sustainable than WSC water.
j brincat
Nov 17th 2012, 10:10
OMG!
What a generous government we have!
Qalbu perzuta.
(jb)
Joseph E Briffa
Nov 17th 2012, 10:34
j brincat....what a stupid comment. The government doesn't come into these things,WSC is trying to increase revenue and lower the vol of unmetered water, and you come with this qalbu perzuta thing.. Incredible, So you would like to tell us Labour is against this move and favours the existing situation? And the obsession of having a govt with a long arm. Labour never change.
Luigi Cassar Manghi
Nov 17th 2012, 11:07
J. Briffa: households should charge the cost and maintenance of roof top water thanks to WSC, because it is the only sure buffer supply. Don't say that mains supply is infallible.
Marco Cremona
Nov 17th 2012, 17:53
Yes, this free-water-as-a-result-of-the-roof-tank is effectively a free water-allocation bonus, which is OK because all households use a roof tank,so it is a 'subsidy' which benefits the rich and poor in absolute terms, but of course benefits the poorer households more in relative terms.
william cauchi
Nov 17th 2012, 10:02
''installing a device inside the actual tank'' Yo ho ho what a laugh.
Can't imagine the meter reader going up a steep ladder on top of my washroom, with a 40 foot drop on each side, to check the water tank meter readings. Can you?
Water demand has halved! Why are people using less water? Maybe, maybe the bills have something to do with it. Today you even think twice before flushing the toilet.
Marco Cremona
Nov 17th 2012, 16:56
William, people are NOT using less water. 1) They are getting their water from other sources i.e. private boreholes and bowsers and 2) WSC has less leaks than it had 15 years ago, so they have reduced their production.
So one has to ask:
1)Why doesn't WSC apply pressure to stop private extraction by boreholes and 2) why didn't we tackle leaks before we invested so heavily in RO production?
Pippo de Marco
Nov 17th 2012, 09:58
I wonder if the conference discussed 'evaporation of domestic water' and who should pay for it ?
If they did, then l think I should make my position clear from the outset ... If the Angels have taken their share, then don't bother sending their bill to me. - Take it up with a higher authority, or maybe even Joe Zammit :-)
Franco Farrugia
Nov 17th 2012, 09:58
All this will be HYPOCRITICAL unless leaks detected on roads and streets, and reported by well-meaning citizens, GO IGNORED. Such reports should be seen to immediately, without delay.
R. Balzan
Nov 17th 2012, 09:38
It's very kind of you to inform consumers how to get their 45-gallon tank full of water at no cost. Just let the water from the mains drip drip all day and night into the tank and presto - no charge! Thank you - very clever.
Eugene Sapiano
Nov 17th 2012, 10:25
As far as I know the absolute majority use tap water except for a few who use rain water; is the latter going to be measured as well?
Marco Cremona
Nov 17th 2012, 16:43
Yes, WSC just gave the game away. Very clever of them!
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