Sewage treatment plant maintenance may reduce designed capacity – WSC

Unplanned and planned plant maintenance may at times reduce the designed capacity of the sewage plant in the limits of Mellieħa to cope with incoming flows, resulting in partial bypasses or stormwater-diluted discharges, a spokesperson for the Water Services Corporation (WSC) told

This week, there was a resurgance of an ongoing issue with regard to the outflow of sewage into the sea at Ras il-Qammieħ, better known as iċĊumnija area.

Back in July of this year, Ivan

Castillo, a Mellieħa councillor, shared a complaint he received from a resident regarding a large masses of contamination in the sea sorrounding the area. The situation seemed to have been handled until last Monday when Castillo once again shared a new complaint on this issue.

“The aim of this plant was to ensure that no drainage was ever poured into the sea to create new water to be used for agriculture .... in 2020 we seem to be failing,” the councillor said.

“I implore the management and administration of WSC to ensure that this issue is corrected ASAP,” he added.

“The area is completely brown; it is disgusting, and it is a threat to hygiene,” Castillo also pointed out, noting that the area is close to fish farms and beaches which risks tarnishing Malta’s products and selling points. In turn, this will have a negative effect on much-needed tourism considering the blow the industry faced during COVID, Castillo added.

His disappointment toward the situation is also rooted in the fact that these plants were created so that Malta becomes one of the first countries in Europe to purify all the water that goes into the sea and to use it as New Water to water green areas, like Aħrax and Miżieb.

As an explanation to the reemergence of this situation, a spokesperson for the WSC said that wastewater peaks are a seasonal reality coinciding with the dry summer months and extreme wet weather events. Furthermore, unplanned and planned plant maintenance may at times reduce the plant’s designed capacity to cope with incoming flows, resulting in partial bypasses or stormwaterdiluted discharges.

Asked when the WSC is planning to start promised works on northern water treatment plants, the spokesperson said that upgrades at iċ- have been earmarked as a top priority project in the recently launched WSC business plan covering 2020-2023. However, it is quite a significant undertaking which is planned to see Malta through 2030 and beyond.

“In the interim, process optimisations and flow management measures are being adopted to cope with the unprecedented increase in population and tourism in the Malta North catchment.”

This newsroom also asked for the WSC’s take on Castillo’s comments regarding the purification of sewage water.

“WSC remains committed to continue supplying new water and expand the distribution network to serve the farming and agricultural community and industry,” the spokesperson said, noting that New Water plays a vital role in the circular economy.

“Our aim remains to achieve a ‘net zero-impact’ on the natural water cycle by also providing a sustainable substitute to groundwater extraction.”