Concrete plants take 400 million litres of groundwater: free

Neither government nor the opposition are outrightly proposing a pricing mechanism for ground water extracted by commercial companies like concrete plants.

But while the government is hinting at future ‘measures and incentives’ to encourage the sustainable use of the resource by the commercial sector for the first time ever the Nationalist opposition has proposed “disincentives” the shape of ‘planning gain contributions” and the pricing of new water produced from sewage treatment when this is delivered to non-farmers.

Information tabled in parliament showed that the number of boreholes extracting ‘free’ groundwater for concrete plants had shot up from a single borehole in 2014, to 20 in 2021. The amount of water extracted from the water table to produce concrete shot up from 4 million litres in 2014 to 62 million litres in 2021.  Between 2014 and 2021 a staggering 403 million litres were extracted for free.

A spokesperson for energy minister Miriam Dalli told MaltaToday that the government is considering “measures and incentives” to encourage sustainable use of this natural water resource by commercial sectors, including industry and construction. “These actions will be announced in due course,” the spokesperson said when asked whether the government is considering any kind of pricing system for the extraction of ground water for commercial and non-agricultural purposes.

Stanley Zammit, an engineer and the PN’s spokesperson for planning, research and innovation, whose question in parliament put the spotlight on the vast amount of water consumed for free by the construction industry, has come up with a more concrete proposal.

Zammit made it clear that in view of Malta’s current designation “as the most water-stressed country in Europe” and “the deterioration of the groundwater quality and quantity”, the government “must disincentivise the extraction of groundwater for commercial and industrial (non-agricultural) use”.

Zammit said large-scale activities like concrete plants which are regulated through an environmental permit issued by the Environment and Resources Authority should be disincentivised from extracting groundwater through specific conditions in the same permit requesting the collection and use of rainwater, recycle and re-use of water. He also proposed a planning gain contribution imposed on those who continue extracting groundwater “which should be transparently directed to initiatives and projects aimed to replenish the groundwater and reduce the amount of rainwater being lost to the sea.”

Both parties concur in recognising the problem posed by groundwater extraction and on the use of treated waste-water transformed into good quality irrigation water to alleviate the problem.

The over-extraction of groundwater not only depletes the scarce resource, but also contributes to increased salinity inisde the acquifer. Malta’s most important aquifer system, the Mean Sea Level aquifer system, consists of a freshwater lens that actually floats on seawater, and therefore this aquifer is bounded by saline water at the sides and the bottom.

Over-extraction ends up changing the shape of the aquifer, and draws in more saltwater and increases salinity in the remaining groundwater.

The problem is recognised in the recently-published National Strategy for the Environment 2050, which is currently open for public consultation.

The strategy states that ensuring sustainable water resources is one of the key objectives of Malta’s environmental plans and actions for the next three decades. “In this regard, as the Strategy confirms, the Government is committed to increase water efficiency and continue narrowing the gap between natural water resource extraction and recharge, to ensure long-term sustainability,” an energy minister spokesperson told MaltaToday.

New water as a solution

Ongoing investment in the New Water network, a major project which sees waste water from sewage treatment plants being treated and distributed for free to farmers “is already contributing to reduced groundwater consumption by the agricultural sector, while the cleaning of watercourses in several valleys is increasing water storage capacities, to improve aquifer recharge.”

New water was one of the projects commenced by the Labour administration after 2013, reversing a decision by the previous Nationalist administration to simply dump the treated sewage into the sea. This decision conditioned the choice of location for the plants which are all located near the coastline and far away from agricultural holdings.

The availability of new water was made possible through additional investment for further sewage treatment, and a system consisting of distribution hydrants which farmers access by electronic cards.

The New Water programme wil develop an annual capacity of 7 million cubic metres of high-quality water suitable for safe crop irrigation, potentially addressing up to 35% of agriculture’s current total water demand.

The PN said it wants to “speed up the process of the distribution of this polished water to be used as well by commercial entities like concrete plants”. Stanley Zammit said that since new water comes at a cost, non-agricultural commercial and industrial users should be charged accordingly, while farmers get for free. “Nevertheless, the rate for New Water should be less than that for extracted groundwater to encourage the use of the former,” Zammit said.