Where’s My Water?

Rainfall is the only direct natural source of water in the Maltese Islands. The islands have a mild, Mediterranean climate with wet winters and hot, dry summers. However, the average annual rainfall is only 530mm and varies widely from year to year (Attard). Water is in scare supply due to this dry climate and Malta’s high population of 419,000 (World Bank). Malta is also expected to see a decrease in rainfall due to climate change and specifically increased evapotranspiration (Attard). This increased evapotranspiration has also decreased soil moisture, making some crop production more difficult (Attard).

Farmers, industries, and private owners have extracted large quantities of water from boreholes. However, as groundwater extraction has increased the salinity level of ground water has also increased. 

It is estimated that 49 percent of Malta’s land is currently being used for agricultural purposes (Attard). Another 23 percent of Malta’s land is urbanized, with approximately 1,274 people per km². Agricultural demands and the growth in population, standards of living, tourism, and urbanization, have increased the demand for water resources and land use efficiency (Birdi). So far, the Maltese have built five reverse osmosis desalination plants to help alleviate their water supply problems. Nevertheless, the increase in demand for water has easily outstripped the increases in supply. Construction of additional reverse osmosis plants is not a long-term solution since the five plants already use approximately 18% of the nation’s electricity (Birdi).

Recently, the domestic and the agricultural sectors have been most adversely affected by water scarcity, since the tourism, commercial, and industrial sectors have been given higher priority due to their relative importance to the economy (Birdi). The average price of bottled water has climbed to €0.50 per liter, which is about 400 times the price of tap water (Cremona). The price of tap water for domestic consumers has doubled in recent years. The price of water is closely linked to the electricity used in reverse osmosis. Approximately 55% of residential water comes from reverse osmosis, with the remaining 45% comes from aquifers (Cremona). Electricity is also needed to pump the water from the place of production to the place of use. It is estimated approximately 30% of water is lost in transit (Cremona).

Rising demands for water have forced the government to find new ways of providing increased amounts of water. Historically, this thirst has been quenched though the construction of desalination plants; however, the cost of electricity and associated tariffs have proven this method unsustainable.

I would like to continue to research this interesting topic. Specifically, I am interested in investigating the amount of water that is being imported into Malta. This includes not only bottled water and other potable water, but also the water that is contained in food products.

References:

Attard, George. “Natural Resources in Malta.” CIHEAM. 1-14. 2007.

Birdi, N. "Water scarcity in Malta." GeoJournal 41.2: 181-191. 1997.

Cremona, Marco. “Essential Malta: Electricity & Water.” http://www.maltainsideout.com/7632/essential-malta-electricity-water/.

World Bank. “Malta.” http://data.worldbank.org/country/malta.