Sant Antnin provides farmers with water, for less boreholes
Less boreholes proliferate in the south thanks to the Sant Antnin plant, JAMES DEBONO says, but farmers are turning more to RO plants to treat the water they extract from the ground
Less boreholes have been drilled in those areas that are provided with water from sewage treatment plants, a statistical analysis by MaltaToday shows.
The area occupied by Marsaxlokk, Xghajra, Zejtun and Zabbar in the southeast of the island currently has fewer boreholes than the national average of 23 per square kilometre, because farmers there have been serviced by the Sant Antnin plant for the past three decades.
The area has less than 17 boreholes on every square kilometre of land.
In contrast, Gozo has the most boreholes: an average 35 boreholes per square kilometre.
However, the Sant Antnin plant is unlike the new sewage treatment plants built in the past years, the latter of which are only disposing the treated water straight into the sea.
Sant Antnin, built in 1983, actually treats sewage to provide an alternative source of water for agricultural and industrial use in the southeast. In 2007 alone, 1.1 million cubic metres of ‘second-class’ water was distributed from the plant, servicing 450 farmers.
Still, it is not yet clear whether the lower frequency of boreholes in this region results directly from the provision of water from Sant Antnin, or the fact that the groundwater in this area is decidedly more saline than the rest of the islands.
Boreholes that are used more frequently are prone to lose pressure as more groundwater gets extracted, making it easier for sea water to penetrate these natural underground reservoirs.
Farmers who spoke to this newspaper confirmed that since groundwater in the area was already brackish when Sant Antnin was constructed, they were more disposed to use the recycled water because the water they got from boreholes was equally saline.
Even though they lament the inconsistent quality of the water generated by Sant Antnin, they consider it a lifeline for agriculture.
Farmers in other regions of the island have tended to use groundwater sources, despite the availability of treated sewage as an alternative.
But the increase in salinity of groundwater has seen more farmers investing in their own reverse osmosis plants, to remove salinity from borehole water.
This phenomenon is not limited to the southeast, but also spreading to northern areas where groundwater is also becoming saltier, as confirmed by the owner of a business specialising in the sale of RO equipment.
But the widespread use of RO equipment has increased energy costs for farmers, most especially after the latest hike in tariffs.
In itself, RO equipment adds further stress on the underground aquifers, which are already over-exploited and getting more saline year after year.
The brine produced by private RO plants often ends in the sewage system, resulting in even more saline sewage, which compromises the quality of the treated effluent produced by the treatment plants. The result is that the water produced is far too saline to be used in agriculture without requiring further treatment.
At present, there are around 8,000 registered boreholes in Malta and Gozo. A total 2,600 were notified to the MRA in November 2008 while another 5,400 boreholes had resulted from a similar exercise conducted in 1997.
Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below. Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.
Search:
MALTATODAY
BUSINESSTODAY
Download MaltaToday Sunday issue front page in pdf file format
