Water production from groundwater reserves has dropped by 3.5 percent each year for the past eight years, the National Statistics Office said.

In a statement issued on the occasion of World Water Day, being celebrated on Sunday, the NSO said that international observance of this day was an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janerio.

The focus this year is on transboundary waters: sharing waters, sharing opportunities.

Between 2000 and 2008 groundwater extraction contributed to 46.4 percent of total water production in Malta. The only year in which groundwater production exceeded production from desalination was in 2000, when 52.9 per cent of all water production originated from the former source.

Throughout the period under review, water production levels fluctuated from one year to another.

However, as a general trend, water production decreased at an average rate of 1.6 percent per year.

The amount of water lost through leakages increased only in 2003, to decrease steadily thereafter.

Between 2000 and 2007, hotels and restaurants (25.3 percent), registered the highest consumption, followed by the manufacture of food products and beverages (18.6 percent).

Other notable consumers included health and social work (8.8 percent), public administration (6.5 percent), and agriculture and related services (5.1 percent). Actual billed water consumption of industrial activities fluctuated considerably from one year to another.

However, an overall negative trend, which translated into an average decrease of 4.4 percent per year, could be discerned. In 2007, households contributed two-thirds of the total actual billed water consumption, whilst agriculture/fishing contributed just two percent. It should be noted that a sizeable proportion of agricultural and fishing activities made use of water produced and consumed through private means.