Remote areas in Siġġiewi, Qrendi and Żebbuġ to get new water mains

The Water Services Corporation has issued a tender for 15km of trenching works and the subsequent laying of around 45km of potable water mains.

The  project  aimed at improving  water quality will see the extension of the primary network distribution system to remote areas in Siġġiewi, Żebbuġ and Qrendi.

The project forms part of the WSC's ambitious plan to invest more than €100 million in infrastructural development to improve water quality across the islands.

Richard Bilocca, the chairman of the WSC said the current situation meant water quality was different across localities. The project is aimed at ensuring that all consumers have access to good quality water.

The new system will transport reverse osmosis water from the Pembroke plant to the Ta’ Qali reservoirs, where it will be combined to achieve an ideal water blend.

A portion of the blended water will then be distributed in the surrounding localities, while the remaining will flow towards the North Harbours area by gravity and feed the localities in there.

Presently the water supply which feeds Central Malta, which includes major urban centres like Birkirkara, mostly consists of groundwater which is temporarily stored in the Ta’ Qali reservoirs.

On the other hand the water supply feeding the North Harbour area which includes Pembroke, St Julian’s, Sliema, Swieqi mostly originates from the RO plant in Pembroke.

The water distributed from the Ta’ Qali reservoirs is of inferior quality due to the low proportion of RO water in the blend. This will be resolved by supplying RO water directly to the Ta’ Qali reservoirs which will then feed the other reservoirs across Malta.

At Ta’ Qali, water will be blended with groundwater fed from the Naxxar reservoir and injected with a formulation of chemicals, to attain the desired blend. This water will be then distributed to other reservoirs across Malta such as Fiddien, Naxxar and Qrendi.

The proposed water tunnel aims at reducing the amount of groundwater abstracted – the process to take out the water – to reduce the impact on the water table, and increase the amount of reverse osmosis mixed into the blend.