Raw sewage is seeping into the Xgħajra bay “almost daily”, the town’s residents say, with video footage showing white sludge cutting across the bay’s clear blue waters.
The video, taken on March 16 and first posted to the town’s residents’ Facebook group, was shared last Monday by MEP candidate Peter Agius. In his post, Agius accused the Water Services Corporation of pumping sewage into the bay three times a week.
However, a resident who spoke to Times of Malta thinks that is a conservative estimate, saying sewage has been seeping into the bay almost daily over the past two years. While the recorded episode was “particularly bad”, it is far from an isolated incident, the resident said.
Trawling through residents’ Facebook groups reveals several almost-identical videos of sewage sludge in the same spot dating back several years.
Speaking to Times of Malta, Agius warned of the potential health impacts of the seepage, saying that contaminated waters can lead to several problems, ranging from skin conditions to life-threatening E.coli and salmonella infections.
“Not to mention the impact on tourism. Eight bays were closed last summer because of sewage spills. At this rate, it could be even higher next summer.”
Independent MEP candidate Arnold Cassola had raised similar concerns in a Facebook post late last year, asking whether the sewage treatment plant “cannot keep up with sewage production”.
Residents said they have been told by the authorities that the problem was sparked because the sewage infrastructure at Ta’ Barkat sewage plant cannot cope with the demand.
The plant, opened in 2011, purifies sewage water and turns it into what is known as new water, or water that can be used for irrigation. This is then distributed to nearby farmers to be used in their fields.
WSC says the plant is equipped to treat 60,000 cubic metres of wastewater each day, making it by far Malta’s main water treatment plant. Meanwhile, the European Commission says the plant “can treat volumes of wastewater equivalent to those normally produced by a population of 500,000 people”. Recent estimates put Malta’s population at just over 540,000 people as of 2022.
The seepage captured in the video was simply a result of works ‘planned as part of our maintenance schedule’ for the Ta’ Barkat sewage treatment plant- WSC spokesperson
In a series of comments responding to the video, Xgħajra mayor Neil Attard told residents that he had reported the matter to Water Services Corporation CEO Karl Cilia, who told him the issue would be resolved by next week once the Sant’Antnin treatment plant in Marsascala was up and running.
In 2021, it was announced that the Sant’Antnin plant would start treating farm waste and turning it into new water, after a €9m upgrade to the facility. This would bring an end to the practice of dumping farm waste into the sewage system, often blocking pipes, the WSC said at the time.
The plant is now set to start treating wastewater directly, in what the WSC described as “part of our strategic efforts to meet the forecasted increase in demand for the coming years”.
In brief comments to Times of Malta, a spokesperson for the Water Services Corporation said the seepage captured in the video was simply a result of works “planned as part of our maintenance schedule” for the Ta’ Barkat sewage treatment plant.
The works took place between March 14 and 16, the spokesperson said.
This maintenance is “essential to ensure our facilities continue to operate efficiently and sustainably”, the spokesperson said, adding that all maintenance works were carried out in line with a permit issued by the Environment and Resources Authority.
The spokesperson did not reply to questions about whether similar incidents have been taking place regularly over the past two years or whether residents can expect the issue to persist.
Meanwhile, the dumping of sewage into Malta’s waters remains a pressing concern, with the European Commission taking Malta to court over the matter in 2022.
In the ongoing case, the commission is arguing that Malta has failed to comply with its Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, which requires member states to properly collect and treat water.