Friday's downpour helped water farmers' crops and added to the shimmering green of Malta's springtime countryside.

But to long-suffering St Paul's Bay residents and aspiring young mariners, the rains meant the return of something altogether less pleasant. 

Unprocessed sewage, toilet paper and all, bubbled into the sea just a few metres from the quay at the Malta Young Sailors' Club.  

"I was about to take 25 students into the sea this morning when I saw the drainage," sailing coach Jean-Paul Fleri Soler told Times of Malta. "It's disgusting, embarrassing and downright dangerous." 

Times of Malta has previously reported on this same issue in both 2016 and 2017. 

The problem, which manifests itself whenever pumps to the nearby wastewater plant fail to keep up with demand, is well known to authorities and dates back several years, with one administration after the other seemingly determined to pass the buck. 

"It happens every time we get slightly more than the usual amount of rain," Mr Fleri Soler said. "We hear a lot about Malta's Blue Flag beaches, but it seems there's less interest to sort out this simple problem."