Water Services Corporation to upgrade reverse osmosis plants, rely less on ground water

An investment of around €100 million will allow the corporation to provide uniform quality water to all of Malta’s households

The investment will allow the Water Services Corporation to rely less on ground water extraction to supply water to Maltese households
The investment will allow the Water Services Corporation to rely less on ground water extraction to supply water to Maltese households

The Water Services Corporation (WSC) will be upgrading its reverse osmosis plants to increase energy efficiency and production capacity, allowing it to rely less on ground water extraction in the future, the corporation announced on Monday.

Improvements to the country’s reverse osmosis plants will be part of an investment of over €100 million, which will also see the setting up of a “state-of-the-art” reverse osmosis plant in Gozo, on an existing WSC site in Gozo.

The new reverse osmosis plant would allow Gozo to no longer be dependent on Malta for its supply of water.

Addressing a press conference on Monday afternoon water minister Joe Mizzi said the project will include measures to manage ground water in a more sustainable manner as well as improvements to the WSC's systems that will ensure uniform quality water in all homes across Malta and Gozo.

The investment, said Mizzi, would be spread across all of the corporation’s operations and would significantly improve the country’s water generation and distribution infrastructure.

The minister added that the WSC would also be spreading its network further while addressing “problematic zones”. Moreover, he said the ‘New Water’ project – through which sewage water is treated and converted to high-quality water – would continue to be developed further.  

Also present at the press conference was parliamentary secretary for EU funds Aaron Farrugia, who said the project would allow Malta to address challenges brought about by its “progress in the consumption of water”.

Farrugia said that the project had been allocated €92 million in EU funds.

The project, he said, would also be allowing the government to extend its sewer network to remote areas.