An innovative pilot project will use purified wastewater to irrigate a public garden in the first phase of the regeneration of Dock 1 in Cospicua.

The €185,000 sustainable irrigation system is being jointly developed by Architecture Project Ltd, Water Services Corporation, the Department of Biology at the University of Malta and Argotti Botanical Gardens, which also falls under the university’s umbrella.

Malta’s water supply has for a long time relied on unsustainable extraction from groundwater reserves and on reverse osmosis. Piping wastewater over a long distance for treatment is rather expensive and the treated sewage water would require further purification.

However, the Neptume project, as it is called, will involve the treatment of municipal sewage using a compact ceramic membrane system. The treated water will then be purified by aquatic plants, like water lilies, in what is known as a phytoremediation process. It would be used for irrigation and for fountains in the public garden.

Coordinator Alberto Miceli-Farrugia said closing the dock was the first step towards cleaner air in the locality and this project would enhance it in the long-term. He is hoping the project will in the future be applied to private gardens and sport complexes.

Joseph Buhagiar, director of the Argotti Botanic Gardens, said aquatic plants purify water in a natural way, reduce carbon dioxide and emit oxygen.

The only energy that would be required would be to circulate the water.

Funded by Malta Council for Science and Technology’s national research and innovation programme, the No-Discharge Energy-Efficient Prototype for the Treatment of Urban Municipal Effluent (Neptume) project was chosen from among 40 proposals.

MCST chair Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando said this pilot study exhibits great potential which could be implemented on a larger scale nationwide.