The Water Services Corporation will be investing €100 million on a number of water infrastructure projects, which include a ‘state of the art’ reverse osmosis in Gozo.
The projects were announced by Energy and Water Management Minister Joe Mizzi and PS for EU Funds Aaron Farrugia.
One of the projects, Mizzi said, is related to the protection and sustainable management of the water table.
Another aims to improve the quality of water.
And to ensure that Gozo has a secure supply of water, a new reverse osmosis plant will be built at an existing WSC site. Another project is related to drainage.
Mizzi said the WSC will be extending its network while addressing problematic areas.
There will be increased investment on ‘new water’ which will see good grade secondary water carried to new locations.
Aaron Farrugia said the projects aim to address the challenges brought about by the country’s development. He said some €92 million are being allocated from EU cohesion funds.
WSC CEO Richard Bilocca also announced that uniform quality drinkable water will soon flow through the taps of every home in Malta.
Bilocca said the corporation will be increasing its capacity to “blend” water produced at reverse osmosis plants or extracted from the ground water table, with that gathered in reservoirs. This would ensure uniformity of the water supplied across the island.
The increased capacity will allow the corporation to rely less on ground water extraction, which today makes up around 40 per cent of the water consumed by households
The corporation will be boring a 9.5km underground tunnel to convey water from the Pembroke osmosis plant to the Ta Qali reservoirs, Bilocca said.
The WSC said it will also be upgrading its reverse osmosis plants to increase energy efficiency and production capacity.