A three-year national water conservation campaign to build awareness on the means of water resources was launched on Monday. “The Water Be the Change” campaign aims to educate and highlight awareness on people’s behaviour towards water conservation on the Maltese Islands, targeting the domestic, commercial and agricultural sectors.

The project is part-financed by the European Union under the Cohesion Fund- European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 and overall including campaign, media and kits adds up to €14 million investment.

“The main objective for this campaign is to raise appropriate awareness on water consumption and conservation across all sectors of society”, Energy and Water Management Minister Joe Mizzi said.

The campaign includes a scheme through which a number of households and agricultural activities will be supported with physical interventions to enable them to become more water efficient. The selected participants to this scheme will become “Malta’s Water Champions” by providing examples on how water conservation schemes can be implemented in practice. “One does not have to be an expert on how to use water, in the next three years everyone has an important role to play to ensure the conservation of our water.”

Throughout the campaign, mobile unit will visit each town in Malta and Gozo with technical staff informing and engaging people appropriate advice on how water can be used effectively in the home. The “road show” will take place over two years and highlights on how an individual can play a key role in saving water.

Educational campaigns will also be carried out in schools, across social and traditional media platforms to raise the public’s awareness on how to use water resources in an increasingly sustainable manner.

Six billion litres of water could be saved

Energy and Water Agency CEO Manuel Sapiano highlighted that as the population continues to increase and expand in economy, there is also an increased pressure placed on the supply and demand for water. “Small changes to our everyday activities can make a difference, it is a collective responsibility and everyone can make a change.”

Sapiano reflected on a nationwide survey which was conducted regarding the Maltese’s concept of water usage. The survey showed that many Maltese believe that their washing machine wastes the most water at home, when in reality it is taps and toilet flushing systems actually take between 60-70 per cent of all water used at home.

“Ideally a shower should last five minutes and if the average shower be kept at this length, six billion litres of water a year could be reduced. Such a reduction in water usage could decrease the country’s energy demands by 3 per cent.”

He also highlighted that agriculture takes up 30 percent of the fresh water on the island. Overtime, research has shown that farmers have been encouraged to use more efficient irrigation systems so as to reduce water losses.

Further information can be found on www.water.org.mt