According to Maltese authorities, the tap water here is safe and can therefore be drunk and consumed without fear. On the other hand, foreign water experts warn against the high percentage of harmful chemicals such as nitrate and phosphate in Maltese water. What are your comments on the quality of the Maltese water?

Polluting land means polluting water since toxic waste seeps into the ground and all kind of chemicals finally end up in the ground-water. These substances become dangerous when the concentrations exceed certain established levels but tests carried out by the Water Service Cooperation show that we have not reached these harmful levels yet. Research on the toxicologial effects of pollutants on human health is an on-going process, and the acceptable levels are revised from time to time.

Malta’s groundwater contains a lot of nitrate which can be harmful to humans, especially babies, and when consumed over a long period of time.

In order to make water bacteriologically safe for human consumption, a low concentration of chlorine is added which, however, gives the water a bad taste. Chlorine is an established long-lasting disinfecting substance which is still, however, an undesirable chemical.

In summary, Maltese tap water is safe but does not as yet meet the EU Drinking Water Standards. Moreover, the quality varies from place to place – despite the small size of the island. In the northern part of the island the salinity almost meets the European standards whereas in the south of Malta and in Gozo the water is considerably saltier.

Can dangerous bacteria, germs and carriers of diseases be killed by boiling the water? Does this treatment have an effect on the unhealthy minerals and the salt the water contains? How healthy is boiled drinking water?

Boiling water for a few minutes kills bacteria entirely and the water is perfectly safe for drinking but this is not necessary in Malta, as chlorine is used for disinfection. This process does not significantly change the composition of the water.

The process of blending currently used in Malta involves mixing quantities of cheap, lower quality water and expensive, high quality water. What types of water could be used for this process and how does this system work?

Maltese tap water consists of approximately 50 per cent ground water and 50 per cent desalinated water produced from seawater. Groundwater is the cheapest source because it only has to be pumped from below the ground to the surface and chlorinated for disinfection. Yet it contains too much nitrate and chloride (salt). For this reason, it has to be mixed with desalinised water, which is free of nitrates. Water from the sea is salty and must therefore be purified in reverse osmosis plants, which is quite an expensive process.

In what way does this system affect the quality and price of tap water? Do you think it is a reasonable compromise to make the best of Malta’s limited resources?

Since everyone is charged the same price for water they should – in all fairness – be supplied with the same quality of water. The mixing of cheap ground-water and water purified by reverse osmosis is a compromise between price and quality – groundwater is cheap, desalinated water is expensive. In theory, blending should provide for a homogeneous quality of water but in practice there are still different qualities of tap water.

Maltese tap water is a mixture of seawater, rain and groundwater. However, households and industry drain off their waste water to the sea, exhaust fumes and smoke lead to acid rain and at the same time, toxic waste seeps into the ground-water. To which extent does this affect the quality of the tap water?

Ground-water is rain which has passed through soil and the underlying rocks. During this process the rain is contaminated with elements such as, for example, oil from vehicles in the streets and toxic substances from rubbish. The concentration of these chemicals becomes dangerous when it exceeds a certain level. According to analyses published by the Maltese authorities, we have not reached this level. However, we cannot continue polluting our environment because it will finally end up in our groundwater. One should also take into consideration the fact that contamination and pollution is not immediately reflected in the water analysis because it takes time for the rain to seep through the ground.

We have to do some re-thinking about the way we handle our resources and prevent environmental pollution in order to ensure that we never reach critical levels. If our groundwater becomes contaminated it will be extremely difficult and expensive to restore its quality.

The quality of the groundwater also depends on the amount that is pumped up from the ground. If too much water is pumped up from the water table, this space, which cannot be filled by rain, will be replaced by seawater. As a result, the ground-water becomes salty.

Can all the pollution and contamination be removed by processing plants? Despite all the treatment, is it possible that the water will still contain unknown harmful chemicals?

Although the technology to remove pollution and contamination is available, it comes at a price. There is ongoing research on whether chemicals are harmful. European Union guidelines on the quality of water are updated from time to time because scientists constantly discover more dangerous chemicals.

Apart from this, there could be certain substances which are considered safe and harmless today but turn out to be harmful to human beings in a few years’ time. In addition, the long-term effects of different chemicals are still unknown.

What can be done to improve the quality of the water and to keep the increase in price within limits at the same time?

The cheapest water source in Malta is ground-water and therefore it has to be protected from contamination and abuse. Unfortunately, the quality of ground-water is getting worse and the amount of good quality ground-water is decreasing because we pump out too much. Consequently, we have to increase the amount of water purified by reverse osmosis and as a result, the price of tap water rises.

Malta is the only country in the world that has no rivers, springs are scarce and it hardly rains during the hot and dry summer months. Are you worried about the islands’ resources? Do you fear that water here might run short or even finish sometime?

Yes, I am seriously concerned about the islands’ resources. If Malta pumps up 15 million cubic metres of water from the ground every year, this amount can be replaced by rain water. However, at present we pump as much as 37 million cubic metres and the space which is not replaced by rainwater is filled with sea water. We cannot continue pumping up water at this rate and still believe that groundwater as a fresh water resource will be available forever.

Strictly speaking, groundwater can never finish because it is replaced by sea water which, of course, cannot be used for drinking.

A drastic increase in population and rapid economic growth, means the demand for water is rising proportionally. Do you think that Malta is able to cope with this development? What problems do the islands face regarding water? Do you have statistics of current water consumption?

The country should ensure that it adopts technologies which use cheaper methods to produce water. Moreover, we must make the best use of the water available, especially because demand is constantly on the increase.

On average, every Maltese consumes around 150 litres of water every day. However, this figure only includes the water people are charged for and not the amount which is extracted from the water table and is actually consumed illegally.

Some of the big hotels have their own reverse osmosis plants and provide this water for their guests. These hotels calculate that every tourist uses between 250 to 300 litres every day.

Dishwashers, washing machines and garden sprinklers make life much more comfortable. Do you think people are aware of the fact that these objects consume a lot of drinking water or is there a general ignorance about the value of water?

In 1997, the price of water increased considerably and suddenly the Maltese paid more attention to the amount of water they used because it became more expensive. At the same time there was a sudden increase in awareness and water consumption fell radically. However, I believe that there still is a lack of awareness as to how much water is costing the country because the cost of water is subsidised by the government.

For example, people here are not ready to pay a significantly higher price for a water-saving washing-machine because the amount of money saved due to this technology does not justify the higher price they are paying for the innovative washing-machine.

What can be done to change the attitude of people who regard water as a basic human right and a material that should be unlimited and freely available rather than a vital, valuable and economic resource?

Everyone should have access to a reasonable amount of water at a relatively cheap price. But people, agriculture and industry are wasting more water than we can cope with.

No attempt to solve our water problems will be successful in the long run unless people realise that there is only a limited amount of “free” fresh water to go around. The government should use the price as a measure to regulate water consumption. Moreover, authorities must clamp down on the widespread illegal extraction of groundwater and on pollution.

In addition, the Maltese must also recognise that not only the politicians but the population itself is responsible for the country’s resources. Every individual must be willing to change his or her wasteful lifestyle.

Apart from thoughtless and careless waste by human beings, how about the loss through vandalism, theft, worn-out, leaking pipes and obsolete distribution systems? Could you give an estimate of how much water is wasted this way?

In 1994, the amount of water which was unaccounted for – water that was produced but lost – amounted to about 60 per cent of the total amount produced. Possible reasons for this were leaking pipes, theft and meters which registered incorrect amounts. Since then, a lot of work has been done, such as leakage control and replacement of old water meters and pipes. These measures are expected to have a long-lasting effect.

The leakage figure has been halved to around 25 per cent. In comparison, leakage figures in other developed countries vary from one per cent (Singapore) to 17 per cent (UK).

Regarding the European guidelines for water which now apply to Malta as an EU member state, have all the requirements been fulfilled? What about regulations for drinking water, water in swimming pools and the disposal of waste water? Do you think Malta is able to adjust the qualities required within the deadlines?

At present Malta is investing in measures to improve the quality of water and make its production more efficient. There are deadlines of between two and three years to bring Malta in line with EU guidelines for drinking and bathing water, as well as for the disposal of waste water.

Although the country receives subsidies from the EU, all these measures cost Malta a considerable amount of money because the EU only pays for part of the investment. The rest has to be paid by the Maltese government. The government has to pass the costs to the population and therefore the price for water might increase.

Do you think the Maltese government and the competent authorities here are sufficiently aware of the water problems? Has water already become a political issue that is creating pressures on the government?

I trust that the authorities are aware of the water problems and would presume that they have solutions. However, it is difficult to sell the concepts to the public – particularly since in most cases the solutions carry a hefty price and are therefore a bitter pill to swallow. A good example is the clamping down on illegal groundwater extraction. There are thousands of people who get free water and they will not be pleased if they are suddenly charged for that water.

Malta has to adhere to the European Drinking Water Directives which say that tap water has to be of good quality. This is essentially a good thing, but it will cost a lot of money.

If one takes into consideration the fact that each person consumes 150 litres of water per day and less than five litres of this are used for drinking and cooking, one should ask whether it is necessary to treat all the water to drinking water standards. It is not really necessary to provide perfectly safe drinking water for toilet flushing or for washing cars.

It would have been a smarter idea if Malta had chosen to negotiate an opt-out clause of this directive. The problem is that these directives were written by European countries which do not have the acute water problems we do; but we are a country with special problems and therefore need special solutions.

Which modern technologies could be used to solve the water problems?

In 1982, Malta invested in reverse osmosis plants which purify sea water. This investment was a very good thing but the negative side-effect is that this process consumes a considerable amount of electricity. Engineers are trying to work out energy-saving solutions and ways of treating sewage. Scientists are also working on measures to reduce the amount of chlorine which is necessary to disinfect water.

Today it is possible to treat sewage to bring it up to drinking water quality. The technology exists and is available.

Two per cent of drinking water in Singapore – which is similar to Malta due to its population density and size – is treated sewage. This is the extent to which water technology has developed.

But technology alone will not solve our problems. It should be supported by a robust water policy.

Unlike in Malta, where the price of water is subsidised, in Singapore the system works the other way round. The government charges the population more in order to make it aware of the value of water. At the same time Singapore is very reactive to any emerging water technology and employing these measures simultaneously ensures that the national water bill is sustainable in the long term.

I think it is a model which we should seriously consider.

[email protected]