Climate change and its consequences, including a local decline in rainfall, should concern everyone. The WSC has drawn up a 10-year high-level national investment plan, worth over €315 million to future-proof the local water and wastewater sector till 2033 and beyond and we are investing in the latest energy-saving desalination technology and installing solar farms so that by 2025, we would have increased our renewable energy production by 80 per cent, says Karl Cilia, Water Services Corporation CEO.

In 2022, the Water Services Corporation produced 35.5 million cubic metres of potable water to meet water demand. This was achieved through its Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants and groundwater production sites. Groundwater accounted for approximately 36 per cent or 12.7 million cubic metres of potable water production. In comparison, the remaining 64 per cent was produced by the Corporation’s four RO plants in Pembroke, Għar Lapsi, Ċirkewwa and Ħondoq ir-Rummien, Gozo.

But how is Malta faring with its water production and is the infrastructure working properly?

“Malta’s potable water is a blend of desalinated water and groundwater. To protect the water table and relieve pressures of localised abstraction, the WSC is committed to utilising groundwater sources that have not been used for several years.”

“In this respect, a project kicking off in 2019 and extending into 2022 saw the activation of formerly inactive boreholes to abstract the required volume of groundwater over a more widespread extent. This approach contains the salinity of the groundwater abstracted, optimising the utilisation of this resource and improving the water blend quality. Effectively, WSC is now abstracting less water from more boreholes.”

“When it comes to desalination, WSC’s reverse osmosis plants produced 22.9 million cubic metres of water in 2022, or an average of 62,000 cubic metres per day. Last year (2022), peak summer production reached 71,000 cubic metres per day in August, which was 13.5 per cent higher than the production of water from the RO plants in 2021, due to increased demand and the need to improve the chloride level of the final drinking water blend.”

“One of the many advantages of the new RO plant in Ħondoq ir-Rummien is that apart from rendering Gozo self-sufficient in meeting its water demand, its surplus production is being transferred to Malta to help meet the sister island’s increasing needs.”

Asked about Malta’s strategy to meet the demand for water in case of serious water shortage, Cilia explained how to safeguard the water table, which itself is impacted in the long term by a shortage of rainfall the WSC is progressively increasing desalinated water production.

“Malta has been investing heavily in reverse osmosis technology since the 1980s and today we are considered a pioneer when it comes to desalination, sharing our expertise with other countries. Moreover, we are using the latest technology to ensure that our RO plants will be able to meet the demand of the Maltese islands into the future.”

Although water extraction from Malta and Gozo’s water tables has long been a public concern, Mr Cilia reiterated that groundwater extraction does not fall within WSC’s remit. Also, when asked on whether bottling companies extract water for free, Cilia pointed out that the WSC is in no way involved in the operations of such bottling companies.

“The Water Services Corporation only undertakes abstraction of groundwater for public purposes (drinking water) using 12 pumping stations and 110 boreholes but any other boreholes, including private ones, do not fall within WSC’s remit.”

“We have also been actively safeguarding groundwater by increasing the amount of desalinated water produced by its Reverse Osmosis plants to supply new water to the agricultural and landscaping sectors and contributed our input in the drafting of a Green Paper on the Regulation of Groundwater Extraction in the Maltese Islands issued by Government, the Environment & Water Agency and the Environment and Resources Authority.”

Experts argue that the cost to produce water is approaching the ‘3 litres of salt water for every 1 litre of refined produce’ limit, which makes desalination very energy-intensive and, therefore, very expensive.

Could it be that people waste water because they do not realise the expensive production processes?

“Increasing production capacity and improving energy efficiency to ensure that desalinated water is produced at the minimum possible cost remains key,” adds Cilia.

“The Water Production and Desalination Unit within WSC is upgrading Malta’s RO plants. This effort is best showcased by our newest plant in Ħondoq ir-Rummien which recently won the esteemed Energy Globe Award 2023 for Malta, a recognition that reflects our advancements in sustainable water management.”

“This state-of-the-art facility is in fact consuming 23.5 per cent less energy than conventional plants making it one of the most efficient RO plants in the world. This also means that while the desalination fraction of the potable water blend is increasing, WSC is utilising the latest energy-saving technologies, including energy recovery devices, to partially offset the added cost resulting from an increased RO dependence.”

Cilia also referred to WSC’s additional investments in renewable energy through solar farms on the roof-tops of several of its reservoirs in Malta and Gozo namely in Ta’ Qali, Qrendi and Ta’ Ċenċ in Gozo.

“Appealing to the general public and the agriculture and landscaping sectors to be more judicious in the use of potable water and New Water is never enough. And although Malta is one of the only countries in the world with a fully enrolled smart-metering system for both electricity and water, the WSC continues to walk the extra mile by using automated consumption data for preventive maintenance and leakage detection/management.”

“Through innovative Artificial Intelligence modelling, the WSC is now informing its customers of abnormal consumption patterns and possible internal leaks to direct customers to localise and resolve any faults.”

As a corporation, we shall remain committed to our bid for Water Conservation to our responsibilities through ESG values,” concluded Cilia.