At the time of writing, the average rainfall in Malta from 1 September 2014 to date is recorded at 442.4 mm. The actual rainfall varies from a high of 529.6mm, recorded at Selmun, to a low of 373.7mm, noted in Valletta. With yet some months to go, it seems that precipitation in the Maltese islands during the current year will shortly exceed the average annual precipitation of 553.12mm, recorded by Charles Galdies in his National Statistics Office publication entitled, The Climate of Malta: statistics, trends and analysis 1951-2010. It will however, be far short of 955.62mm, the maximum recorded precipitation in Malta, which was noted at Luqa Airport in 1951.
Since 1880, legislation in Malta has specifically provided for the construction of water cisterns in buildings, primarily residential ones. The dimensions of these water cisterns varied over time. Originally, they were related to the floor area of the residential building. Recently, the required volume was reduced to be related to the footprint of the building.
These regulatory provisions are however more honoured in the breach, even when reduced. This is not a recent phenomenon. Regulatory control in Malta has been in decline since the 1960s building boom.
Instead of being collected in rainwater cisterns, in an ever increasing number of cases, rainwater is discharged directly onto our roads, or into public sewers. As a result, navigating some of our roads during or immediately after heavy rainfall is a dangerous exercise.
This is a case of water literally going down the drain. Large volumes of storm water, which can be used for various purposes, are being wasted. Much has been written about the potential use of harvested rainwater. Its use domestically can substantially reduce water bills.
It is also an issue of civil protection. Large quantities of rainwater in our streets, at times moving at excessive velocity, are a danger to life and limb. Fortunately, it is very rare for people to lose their life in storms in Malta, but damage to property is a more frequent occurrence.
When rainwater is discharged into our overburdened public sewers, not only does the water overflow onto our streets, but it also increases the costs of sewage purification unnecessarily. These costs are recovered through our water bills. Hence, in the end, we all pay the costs of this abuse, irrespective of whether we are participants or not.
The major culprits are a substantial portion of the developers of blocks of flats and maisonettes. The government, directly, as well as through its agencies, has also been responsible for the development of housing estates without providing for rainwater harvesting.
In particular, it is common knowledge that in cases where basement or semi-basement garages are constructed, the duty to provide for rainwater harvesting is very rarely complied with. Since 1992, Mepa has been responsible for determining and ensuring the observance of the conditions of development permits, which in most cases, specify the required capacity of a rainwater cistern.
The Water Services Corporation (WSC) has over the past years, taken over the responsibility for the management of the public sewers from the former Drainage Department. This responsibility includes authorising owners of newly-constructed properties to connect the drains with the public sewer.
Is the WSC verifying that it is only the drains that are connected and, in particular, that rainwater pipes are not connected to the public sewer too? The obvious answer is provided by our streets on a rainy day. No one is bothering to check what is connected to the public sewer. This leads to the conclusion that, while the culprit for the present state of affairs is the building industry as, more often than not, it does not provide for rainwater storage in new developments, it is not the only one to blame. The authorities and government departments must take a substantial share of the blame for not shouldering their regulatory responsibilities. They could have stopped the abuse, but they did not.
A number of areas are practically out of bounds whenever heavy or continuous rainfall hits the Maltese islands. This is a source of danger and, in fact, the Civil Protection Department is heavily involved in assisting residents and motorists who are trapped as a result of flooding. The Birkirkara local council had, some years back, installed a storm warning system to alert residents and passers-by that, “danger was on the way”! Public authorities in Malta, unfortunately, have developed the habit of dealing with the effects but continuously ignore the cause of flooding!
Monies made available by the EU have been used to fund a project for the construction of underground tunnels through which it is planned to collect rainwater from our streets and roads and to discharge most of the collected storm water into the sea.
The EU funds utilised in the construction of these tunnels have been used to squander a very precious resource. European taxpayers’ monies too have been flushed down the drain. They could have been put to much better use if they had been applied to address the lack of adequate rainwater harvesting in our towns and villages.
We have been inundated with political speeches lauding sustainability and sustainable development. However, when push comes to shove, it is more than amply clear that this is just a case of some Members of Parliament showing off a newly-acquired vocabulary they have not yet understood. In 2015, Malta still lacks a sustainable water policy.
Sunday, 22 February 2015, 09:30 by Carmel Cacopardo (The Malta Independent)
