Minister for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise Miriam Dalli, together with Water Services Corporation CEO Karl Cilia, launched a new book, 8000 Years of Water, A Maltese Story of Sustainability, which tells the story of water production in Malta across the millennia.
The 500-page book, authored by 15 experts in the field and full of original photographs of seldomly seen locations around the Maltese islands, tells the untold story of water in the Maltese islands, from pre-history all the way to the present.
While speaking on the importance water plays in society, Minister Miriam Dalli remarked that the book would take its readers on a journey of discovery on how, throughout history, Malta’s inhabitants managed to conquer challenges and secure the provision of water.
Whilst remarking that the book was the first of its kind to comprehensively document the Maltese islands’ entire water-related history, the Minister thanked all those involved in producing such a work.
Minister Dalli underlined the importance the government is continuing to place in the water sector, which is exemplified by the Water Services Corporation’s successful efforts to increase the amount of quality water it produces through desalination, whilst reducing both the pressure placed on groundwater resources and the amount of energy utilised in the reverse osmosis process. This, she highlighted, tied in with the government’s determination to meet the country’s and the EU’s environmental goals.
The Water Services Corporation is currently in the final stages of a major project connecting its reverse osmosis plant in Pembroke to the Ta’ Qali group of reservoirs, through an underground tunnel. The project will be significantly improving the taste of tap water throughout the island by enhancing the blending potential of the Corporation’s sources of water.
This, along with other projects, including those related to wastewater treatment, the expanded provision of New Water to the agricultural sector, the reduction of leaks in the network, and the reduction of sewage overflow – showed that Malta’s water journey, with the Water Services Corporation, will continue successfully.
In the coming days, the book will be available in all main bookshops as well as online.
