A major water pipe connected to the Ċirkewwa reverse osmosis plant runs beneath the Għadira coast road, which the government wants to remove to build a road further inland instead.
A spokesman for the Water Services Corporation confirmed that water mains run under the road along the Għadira sandy beach.
Transport Minister Austin Gatt has insisted the new road is required to protect the beach and stop erosion. But several NGOs are insisting that the plans should be put on hold until the government produced scientific evidence to back up its claims that the project was needed in order to safeguard the beach.
NGOs have warned that the proposed road would cut through the Foresta 2000 project area, where thousands of trees and shrubs have been planted. Thousands of euros have been donated by both individuals and companies to replenish this area.
Should the road project go ahead, it would also slice through the Għadira green caravan site. Ironically, a number of drain pipes and services were installed beneath the caravans earlier this year.
Another drain pipe was also laid under the caravan site to supply three hotels in the vicinity. Concrete was laid out and the work, costing thousands of euros of taxpayers' money, was completed last July.
Nationalist MP Charlo Bonnici voiced concern in recent days over the proposed project.
"I felt that the general perception is that we were rushing through the decision-making process not to lose EU funding for this project. I appealed to all concerned to ensure that in order to save a popular bay we do not cause harm to the environment and to the tourist industry."
He insisted that there was no particular adverse feedback to his speech in parliament.
"Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if those who have been working on this project for years raise their eyebrows at the fact that a Nationalist MP cautioned his own government to take the necessary time to ensure that the best decision is taken... I would probably have done the same," he told The Sunday Times.
"I understand that ultimately a decision needs to be taken, even on this issue, and I trust that the government will make the right choices."
Meanwhile Alternattiva Demo-kratika has called for the studies on the proposed Għadira road to be made public.
AD chairman Arnold Cassola said that a report on the proposed review of the Għadira road options had been drawn up by the Malta Transport Authority in 2005, while a private report by a Mellieħa hotelier was drafted in 2004.
"We are asking Austin Gatt to publish these reports in their entirety and not to quote selectively from them. It is absolutely irresponsible of the government to have done nothing about the TENT project in Għadira for years and then to come up with a shotgun choice of deciding blindly on such a project within the space of six weeks, before the December 31 deadline."
German Green MEP Michael Cramer also called for the studies to be published and insisted that EU laws dictate that public hearings are a must before such a project can be approved.
The government had not held any public hearings and by going ahead blindly with its plans was risking ruining an EU protected area, he said.
In a rare show of consensus, the hunters' federation yesterday joined Birdlife in condemning the project, saying that the little natural habitat available in Malta could not be destroyed.