New water production in the last two years has reached 1.6 million cubic metres annually, which is less than a third of the projection made by the Water Service Corporation a few years ago.

The matter was recently raised in a parliamentary question by Opposition MP Janice Chetcuti who asked Energy Minister Miriam Dalli. New water is the term used for the production of water suitable for crop irrigation and landscaping maintenance from polishing plants located at Ta’ Barkat in Xgħajra, iċ-Ċumnija in Mellieħa and Ras il-Ħobż in Għajnsielem. Farmers have access to new water by means of a network of dispensers in rural areas. Though there is a charge of €0.20 per cubic metre of water, this is only applicable over and above a threshold level which is proportional to the area of the field.

It transpired that between 2020 and 2023 the total amount of new water produced was stable and varied between 1.4 million cubic metre in 2020 and 2021 to 1.6 million cubic metres in the following two years. Prior to that production had started from as low as 129,000 cubic metres in 2017 to 562,000 in 2018 up to 868,000 in 2019. In her reply, the energy minister noted that new water was part of government’s plan to reduce reliance on ground water extraction while calling on farmers to make good use of this resource.

However, the annual production levels are significantly less than the amount quoted in the website of the Water Service Corporation which manages the system. It states that the new water programme will see the development of an annual production capacity of 7 million cubic metres which will have the capacity to potentially address up to 35% of the current total water demand of the agricultural sector. Furthermore, it states that this target should be reached by 2021.  

This portal sought an explanation from the Energy Ministry as to why this target had not been reached. Moreover, questions were also sent on claims that some farmers considered new water of being ‘poor’ in certain minerals and nutrients which are essential for crops. In this respect, this portal is informed that some farmers mix new water with ground water as otherwise they fear a poor harvest. However, no replies were received by the minister by the time of writing.