HSBC water programme Catch the Drop Campaign supported students who participated in this year’s Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) programme.

HSBC water programme staff volunteers visited the participating schools to give presentations on water-related issues.

The students were invited to visit sites such as the reverse osmosis plant at Pembroke and the Delimara power station, to report on water issues at these plants. Experts also provided them with information for their reports.

Five students who compiled the best entries were presented with cash vouchers at a ceremony held at Xrobb l-Għaġin Nature Park and Sustainable Development Centre, Marsaxlokk.

The YRE programme and Catch the Drop campaign plan to continue with their collaboration next year.

Schools or students who wish to participate may e-mail HSBC water programme coordinator Glenn Bugeja on glenn.bugeja@hsbc.com or YRE national coordinator Audrey Gauci on yre@naturetrustmalta.org. The following are the winning entries.

Water scarcity: is it a weakness or an opportunity for the local economy?

John Paul Mercieca
Sacred Heart Minor Seminary, Victoria
11-14 age group

Malta is a severely stressed country in terms of water resources. Water use in Malta has increased significantly in the past years.

How have the Maltese islands’ residents reacted? Have they accepted it as a weakness or have they viewed it as a challenge and started to find new ways to be more efficient and effectiveness in their daily use of water?

This article provides an insight into water management policies in the Gozitan country-side and examples of daily water usage from the hotel industry. An animation of how water is filtered and collected in a hotel is also provided.

www.yremalta.org/past-entries/water-scarcity-a-deterrent-or-an-eye-of-opportunity-for-the-local-economy-2/

Wonderful water – water of life

Etienne Degabriele Ferrante
St Michael School, Santa Venera
11-14 age group

Fresh water is not easily available in Malta. We need to keep places like Chadwick Lakes clean from all pollutants, so that all aquifers will have fresh water available. But we find that due to the presence of pollutants and other reasons, not all of the few aquifers that still exist in Malta can be used to draw water.

Even at Chadwick Lakes, we find that a large area of the water is overgrown with tiny plants. This is caused by fertilisers and other chemicals from the soil in fields that are dissolved by rainwater and end up in the ‘lakes’.

To make matters worse, the water was also polluted with plastic bottles and other litter.

Let us not use progress and convenience as an excuse to neglect and destroy natural life in Malta. Water is the source of all life. So let us take care of our wonderful water, water of life.

www.yremalta.org/past-entries/wonderful-water-water-of-life/

The life-saving Buskett project

Emerson Gatt
St Michael School, Santa Venera
11-14 age group

This video is about ‘The life-saving project’ held in Buskett. It identifies problems in Buskett, including soil erosion and the best use of water. The school conducted the project with the aim of increasing awareness on the conservation of this natural and historical habitat.

www.yremalta.org/past-entries/the-life-saving-buskett-project/

May I have a glass of storm water?

Rachel Randon
G.F. Abela Junior College, Msida
15-18 age group

This article tackles water usage and consumption in Malta. An investigation was conducted to find out what is happening with the storm water being collected as part of the National Flood Relief Project, and to suggest what could be done with this harvested storm water.

www.yremalta.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/May-I-have-a-glass-of-storm-water.pdf

Precious drops

Marija Camilleri
St Thomas More College, Żejtun Primary B
7-10 age group

Water is a precious resource as nothing can live without water. In Malta we do not have any natural water sources. We are dependent on rain water and the water table. Reverse osmosis plants help us meet our demand for water. When it rains, our streets are flooded with run-off water that can be stored if every building had a well or reservoir.

People in various countries of the world have to travel every day to find clean water. For these people, water is more precious than diamonds. On the other hand, we tend to take this precious resource for granted, as we have it within a tap’s reach.

www.yremalta.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Precious-Drops.pdf

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