This photo shows a five-micron polypropylene filter 'before' and 'after' just two-and-a-half months of being installed to filter my mains water supply.

The filter is purposely made to remove rust, sediment and dirt, but after this short while it had to be changed as it had become too clogged up to let enough water through. And I live in Tal-Virtú, Rabat, a long-established built-up area, not in the countryside in the back of beyond.

With this rusty water we wash ourselves, we rinse our hands, we rinse our mouths after brushing our teeth, we cook our pasta and rice, we rinse our salads, fruit and vegetables, and we wash the plates and glasses we eat and drink from. I wonder what effect the inevitable ingestion of traces of all this rust has on our health.

Like most other Maltese, I have grown used to not drinking from the mains water supply due to its bad taste, but it was still a shock for me to see the extent to which it is polluted with rust.

However, a water engineer advised me he was not surprised the water was so rusty. He said this was typical of the mains water supply throughout most of Malta.

Apparently, as long as the water meets EU standards of biological purity the Water Services Corporation is breaking no law. And this situation will continue as long as the mains water supply is distributed through old rusty main water pipes laid decades ago in the streets around the island.

I think it is scandalous that the water supplied to Maltese households in this day and age is so rusty, considering the great expense the corporation goes through to produce the water through reverse osmosis - a cost we taxpayers end up paying dearly for.

Paying higher water and electricity bills for such poor quality water leaves a bad taste in my mouth in more ways than one.