The Water Services Corporation today announced that it reached important milestones in relation to its EUR 130m+ EU funded major project.
At a press event at the Ta’ Kandja Pumping Station attended by Hon. Aaron Farrugia, Hon. Edward Scicluna, and Hon. Joe Mizzi, the Water Services Corporation gave details on the vast work that was undertaken since the project was announced earlier this year.
158 tenders issued, 130 of them already adjudicated and the 2018 EU funds disbursement target already reached at EUR 37m, ahead of deadline. An unprecedented achievement when it comes to EU funds disbursement.
The project will revolutionise the way water is produced and distributed across Malta and Gozo.
Seawater desalination plants will be upgraded both in terms of capacity and efficiency, producing much more water with less energy. Reverse Osmosis specific energy requirements will go down by 8.1%, equivalent to 0.31% savings in terms of total national current energy demand.
A reduction of 4 billion litres per year in terms of the Corporation’s Ground Water abstraction figures and the production of 7 billion litres of new water with over 400 dispensers for agricultural use. An aggressive strategy intended to safeguard the water table for future generations.
A new reverse osmosis for the Island of Gozo with a capacity of 9 million litres per day giving security and high-quality water. Which quality will also be reached throughout the island of Malta through an overhaul of the distribution and blending system, central to which is a EUR 33m tunnel from Pembroke to Ta Qali.
Major upgrades are also being undertaken on the sewage network and new sewage treatment technology is being introduced. In short, the Corporation is implementing the largest ever Cohesion funded project which will result in improved quality of life across Malta and Gozo.
CEO Richard Bilocca explained ‘that such work would have never materialised hadn’t it been for the great work ethos of the Corporation’s workforce and the impressive synergy attained with the Department of Contracts, the EU Funds Managing Authority (PPCD), the Treasury, and other Government entities’.
This project is being coordinated by the Water Services Corporation and will be co-financed through EU Cohesion funds.