A €9 million project at the Sant’Antnin plant will allow farmers to dispose
of farm waste in a more sustainable way, which will in turn lead to an increase
in the production of New Water.
Thanks to the investment carried out, farmers will soon be able to
transport farm waste which will be treated at the Sant’Antnin plant, elevating
the pressure from the urban sewage infrastructure. For the past 20 years,
untreated farm waste was dumped into the Water Services Corporation’s (WSC)
sewage system, to the detriment of sewage plants that are not built to handle such
type of waste.
It is estimated that some 60 bowser loads are discharged per week.
The Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Parliamentary
Secretariat for European Funds embarked on a project together with the WSC to
address this issue.
The Sant’Antnin plant will treat the waste before it arrives at the Ta’
Barkat plant, separating the solids and liquids. This process will allow the
sewage purification plant at Ta’ Barkat to produce more New Water as the load
diminishes. In addition, the improvement of the infrastructure and the
treatment of this waste will help to address the problem of sewage discharge in
Xgħajra.
Ahead of the opening of the new treatment facility,
Minister Miriam Dalli, Minister
Anton Refalo, Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds Stefan
Zrinzo Azzopardi and WSC CEO Ivan Falzon visited the plant.
Mr Falzon explained how the success of the New Water experience
in the north is being replicated in the south, where the preparations and the
infrastructural works have been more complex.
“With this investment we are addressing two areas:
treating farm waste and the production of New Water. Following talks between
the Government, the WSC and the Ministry for Agriculture, €2.4 million were
invested in new equipment that offers farmers with an alternative method for
farm waste disposal. This will allow such waste to be treated as opposed to it
being dumped in the urban sewage infrastructure,” explained Minister for
Energy, Enterprise and Sustainable Development Miriam Dalli.
This new process will drastically reduce the load on
sewage treatment plants. Whilst safeguarding the infrastructure, the operations
at Ta’ Barkat will be drastically improved, allowing an increase in the
production of New Water.
"We will continue to build on the success of the New
Water project," said Minister Dalli. In 2020, New Water production
increased from .75 m3 to 1.5 million m3 of high-quality water for irrigation.
Minister Anton Refalo said that “the Water Services
Corporation has invested in special machinery to help in the process of
treating the slurry that the livestock breeder would have brought from his
farm, while the GAB (Government Agricultural Bioresources Agency) has invested
in three mobile units that will operate on farms. All this has happened with
the continuous collaboration of the relative cooperatives as well ”.
“This machinery will be helping to provide a reassuring
service to the livestock breeders and will be as efficient as possible,"
said Minister Refalo. “This new system will start operating in the coming days.
I am very pleased with this process which had been previously planned. As promised, we as a Government must always stand shoulder
to shoulder with our livestock breeders.”
Parliamentary Secretary Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi said that the works on the Sant
Antnin plant to treat sewage water are being carried out with an investment of
around €5 million in European funds. He explained how this plant will be
strengthening sewage management in the south of Malta so that we can increase
the amount of water to be recycled. Thus, he remarked, that as a result we will
continue strengthening the circular economy.
Parliamentary Secretary Zrinzo Azzopardi said that this is also helping us to
take care of the marine environment by preventing waste water from flowing into
the sea. He explained that this water recycling project is leading us to reach
our goal, to generate more new water so that the recycled water will be used
for agricultural purposes and thus reducing the pressure on ground water.
Investiment ta’ kważi €9 miljun se joffri alternattiva għall-bdiewa u
r-raħħala għar-rimi tal-iskart tal-annimali u żieda fil-produzzjoni tan-New
Water
Permezz ta’ investiment globali ta’ madwar €9 miljun li sar fl-impjant ta’
Sant’Antnin, il-bdiewa u raħħala se jkunu jistgħu jiddisponu mill-iskart
tal-annimali b’mod aktar sostenibbli. B’dan l-istess investiment se tiżdied
il-produzzjoni tan-New Water.
Dan għaliex il-bdiewa u raħħala issa se jkunu jistgħu jwasslu l-iskart mill-irziezet tagħhom għal aktar trattament
fl-impjant ta’ Sant’Antnin. Fil-fatt, għal dawn l-aħħar 20 sena, skart
tal-annimali mhux trattat kien qed jiġi mormi fis-sistema tad-drenaġġ
tal-Korporazzjoni għas-Servizzi tal-Ilma (WSC), b’dettriment għall-impjanti
tad-drenaġġ li mhumiex mibnija biex jieħdu dan it-tip ta’ skart.
Huwa stmat li tintrema tagħbija ta’ madwar 60 bowser
fil-ġimgħa.
Dan il-proġett qed isir b’kollaborazzjoni bejn
il-Ministeru għall-Enerġija, il-Ministeru għall-Agrikoltura u s-Segretarjat
Parlamentari għal Fondi Ewropej, filmkien mal-WSC. L-impjant ta’ Sant’Antnin se
jittratta l-iskart qabel ma jasal fl-impjant Ta’ Barkat. L-impjant Ta’ Barkat
jibdel ilma mid-drenaġġ għal ilma tajjeb għall-irrigazzjoni tal-għelieqi,
magħruf aħjar bħala ‘New Water’. Għalhekk li dan l-impjant jista’ jiffoka aktar
fuq il-produzzjoni tan-New Water ġaladarba l-iskart tal-annimali jissaffa.
Barra minn hekk, it-titjieb fl-infrastruttura u
t-trattament ta’ dan l-iskart se jgħin biex tiġi indirizzata l-problema ta’
ħruġ ta’ drenaġġ fix-Xgħajra.
Il-Ministru Miriam Dalli, il-Ministru Anton Refalo u s-Segretarju
Parlamentari Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi flimkien mal-Kap Eżekuttiv tal-WSC Ivan
Falzon żaru l-impjant. Is-Sur Falzon spjega kif is-suċċess fit-Tramuntana ta’
Malta qed jiġi replikat fin-Nofsinhar, fejn il-preparazzjoni u t-tqegħid
tal-infrastruttura kien aktar kumpless.
“Permezz ta’ dan l-investiment qed nindirizzaw żewġ
oqsma: dik tat-trattament tal-iskart mill-annimali u l-produzzjoni tan-New
Water. Wara diskussjoni mal-Gvern Ċentrali, il-Korporazzjoni flimkien mal-Ministeru
tal-Agrikoltura ħadet l-inizzjattiva li tinvesti f’tagħmir biex toffri
alternattivi raħħala biex jiddisponu mill-iskart. B’investiment ta’ €2.4
miljun, il-bdiewa se jkunu jistgħu jwasslu l-iskart mill-irziezet tagħhom għal
aktar trattament,” spjegat il-Ministru għall-Enerġija, l-Intrapriża u Żvilupp
Sostenibbli, Miriam Dalli.
Dan il-proċess ġdid se jnaqqas drastikament it-tagħbija
fuq l-impjanti tat-trattament tad-drenaġġ. Filwaqt li tiġi ssalvagwardjata
l-infrastruttura, se jitjieb l-operat li se jwassal għal żieda fil-produzzjoni
tan-New Water għall-użu mill-istess bdiewa.
“Se nkomplu nibnu fuq is-suċċess tal-proġett tan-New
Water,” saħqet il-Ministru Dalli. Fl-2020, il-produzzjoni tan-New Water
irduppjat minn .75 m3 għal 1.5 miljun m3 ta’ ilma ta'
kwalità għolja għat-tisqija.
Il-Ministru Anton Refalo qal li “il-Korporazzjoni
għas-Servizzi tal-Ilma investiet f’makkinarju apposta biex dan jgħin
fil-proċess għat-trattament tas-srew li r-raħħal jkun ġab mir-razzett tiegħu,
filwaqt li l-Aġenzija tal-Gvern għal bio-riżorsi agrikoli investiet fi tlett
mobile units li se joperaw fuq l-irziezet. Dan kollu seħħ bil-kollaborazzjoni
kontinwa tal- koperattivi ukoll”.
“Dan il-makkinarju ha jkun qed jgħin biex servizz
bħal dan jagħti serħan il-moħħ lir-raħħala u jkun iktar effiċjenti bl-aħjar mod
possibbli,’’ qal il-Ministru Refalo. “Din is-sistema l-ġdida se tibda topera
fil-ġranet li ġejjin. Ninsab sodisfatt immens b’dan il-proċess li kien ilu
ppjanat. Kif dejjem wegħdna, aħna bħala Gvern dejjem irridu nkun ta’ spalla
għar-raħħala tagħna.”
Is-Segretarju Parlamentari għall-Fondi Ewropej Stefan
Zrinzo Azzopardi qal li madwar €5 miljun f’fondi Ewropej ġew idedikati għal dan
il-proġett.Huwa spjega kif dan l-impjant se jkun qed jsaħħaħ l-imanniġjar
tal-ilma tad-drenaġġ fin-naħa t’isfel ta’ Malta biex b’hekk naslu għaż-żieda
tal-ilma li jrid jiġi rriċiklat. Huwa stqarr li riżultat ta hekk qed inkomplu nsaħħu
l-ekonomija ċirkolari.
Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi qal li dan qed jgħina nibżgħu wkoll
għall-ambjent marittimu billi nipprevjenu li l-ilma maħmuġ jispiċċa fil-baħar.
Hu spjega li dan il-proġett tar-riċiklaġġ tal-ilma qed iwassal ukoll biex
nilħqu l-għan tagħna li jkollna aktar new water biex b'hekk l-ilma riċiklat
ikun qed jintuża għal skopijiet agrikoli u jnaqqas il-pressjoni tat-tehid
tal-ilma tal-pjan.
