The quality of Malta’s tap water ranks among the top 20 countries in the world, according to a Yale University study, which, however, offers a damning report on other environmental issues.

The 2024 Environmental Performance Index, a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world, places Malta in 19th position globally for its drinking water.

But the ranking has deteriorated slightly. It was among the top 10 countries out of 180 for the safest drinking water two years ago.

The EPI scores 180 countries on their progress towards mitigating climate change, improving environmental health and protecting ecosystem vitality, indicating which countries are best addressing the world’s most critical environmental challenges.

In 2022, Malta had the second-highest score for its drinking water, just shy of the full marks of the six countries that surpassed it in the index conducted by the Yale Centre for Environmental Law and Policy and Columbia University Centre for International Earth Science Information Network.

The Sanitation & Drinking Water issue category of the index measures how well countries protect human health from environmental risks on two indicators: unsafe drinking water and unsafe sanitation.

Malta’s water quality has “improved considerably” through a 30 per cent reduction in chlorides, which affect its salinity, and an additional 30 per cent reduction in chlorine, said Water Services Corporation CEO Karl Cilia.

The WSC was in the final testing phase of a simple charcoal filter that would “fix the taste” of tap water by extracting the chlorine element, and it would soon be embarking on a campaign to raise awareness on this.

While Malta did well when it came to drinking water, it was lagging on other fronts, including water resources, solid waste and heavy metal pollution issues, according to the 2024 EPI, whose scorecard highlighted “leaders and laggards” in environmental performance.

Poor performance when it comes to wastewater management

Malta was on the bottom rung of the Global West, by far the region with the highest average score in overall wastewater management, for the Water Resources issue category.

It placed 60th worldwide in the study that was used as an important predictor of the performance of the infrastructure required for the collection and treatment of wastewater.

The index highlights a substantial score variation within regions, pointing out that some countries in all regions, except South Asia, outperform Malta.

Together with the US, Malta was singled out for “severely underperforming” other countries in the Global West.

“Malta lacks appropriate facilities for wastewater treatment. None of the sewage treated in Malta complies with the EU’s regulations,” the study quotes.

It looks back to 2022, when the European Commission referred Malta to the EU’s Court of Justice for failing to comply with the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.

“Malta has failed to comply with regulations despite receiving over €60 million in European funds to build and improve wastewater treatment plants,” it said.

In terms of solid waste, Malta was last in the Global West and 119th worldwide

According to the European Commission, it said, the low quality of treated wastewater in Malta is, in part, caused by discharges of animal manure into the municipal wastewater system, which hampers the performance of treatment plants.

However, the WSC CEO highlighted investment in the replacement of old water and wastewater mains across the islands, and upgrading the reverse osmosis infrastructure with more energy-efficient equipment.

Cilia also mentioned the continued expansion of the New Water project, whereby wastewater is being converted into clean Class A water for farmers to irrigate crops.

The island was the lowest among the 22 countries in the Global West in the Heavy Metals category, with the report commenting that it “severely lags” other countries when it comes to mitigating lead exposure.

Heavy metals are toxic to every organ system in the human body, the report highlighted.

Quoting a 2004 Times of Malta article about the banning of leaded paint, batteries and gasoline, it said lead exposure levels remained high, pointing out that lead bullets, widely used for hunting until recently, could be a source of this.

Due to the long-lasting health and cognitive effects of lead exposure, countries where policies have successfully reduced lead exposure still suffered the consequences of what happened decades ago, it said.

In terms of solid waste, Malta was also last in the Global West and 119th worldwide.

Solid waste – the way it is disposed of and its mismanagement – contributed to several of the most serious environmental problems.

Malta was also on the bottom end of the countries in the Global West for the Air Pollution, but it ranked top 50 worldwide.

It was number 139 worldwide and 21 – the bottom of the Global West – on the Agriculture issue category, which measured progress in balancing agricultural productivity and the minimisation of environmental harm.

Among top 25 on the biodiversity and habitat index

On a more positive note, the country placed sixth in the Global West and was among the top 25 on the index’s Biodiversity and Habitat issue category.

The biodiversity crisis – the rapid loss of species and other types of biological diversity – has emerged as one of the most severe and irreversible environmental issues facing humanity, just behind climate change, the report states.

Malta also gains some ground in the Fisheries issue category, placing second in the Global West and 70th out of 140 countries worldwide.

The island ranks fifth in Climate Change Mitigation among 180 countries; 11th on Air Quality; 14th on Ecosystem Vitality; and 17th for Environmental Health.

In the 2024 EPI overall ranking, European countries occupy the top 20 positions and Malta placed 11th.