Environment: Malta has severest water shortage in the Mediterranean
(ANSAmed) - PALERMO - Among Mediterranean islands, Malta is the one with the greatest water shortage, with annual water needs almost double availability. Sicily, on the other hand, has more water than it needs.
Manuel Sapiano from Malta's Ministry for Energy and Water Conservation spoke on the issue Friday in Palermo, as part of the last leg of the Mediwat project co-funded by the European Union as part of the Med 2007-2013 program. Funding totaled 1.48 million euros, and the head region of the project was Sicily (Water and Refuse Department - Water Observatory). Twelve pilot projects were presented during the meeting, which focused on waste water treatment, their reuse and the optimization of water resources for irrigation.
The projects were developed in three years of study by Mediwat partners from the Mediterranean area: the Department of Agrarian Engineering of the University of Catania, the Bari Department of the National Research Council, the Authority for Water,Energy and Mineral Resources of Malta, the Water Department of Lemesos (Cyprus), the Crete Polytechnic, the Municipal Authority for Water and Purification of Chania (Greece), the University of Barcelona (Spain), IRSTEA (Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture from Aix en Provence, France) and the Aqualogy Medio Ambiente- Delegation from the Balearic Islands (Spain). Sapiano said that ''on the island of Malta, annual water needs are almost double (64 cubic meters) the availability of water resources (28 cubic meters), over a territory that has the highest population density (1,345 inhabitants per square kilometer) compared with Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, Mallorca and Sicily''.
''Among the causes of this water shortage,'' he said ''is the low rainfall - at an annual average of 550 millimeters, the lowest of all Mediterranean islands except for Cyprus (500 millimeters). The cost of water on Malta is also the highest (alongside Cyprus). In Sicily we find a very different situation: compared with the 1,267 cubic meters needed, there is an availability of 4,746 cubic meters.''
Manuel Sapiano from Malta's Ministry for Energy and Water Conservation spoke on the issue Friday in Palermo, as part of the last leg of the Mediwat project co-funded by the European Union as part of the Med 2007-2013 program. Funding totaled 1.48 million euros, and the head region of the project was Sicily (Water and Refuse Department - Water Observatory). Twelve pilot projects were presented during the meeting, which focused on waste water treatment, their reuse and the optimization of water resources for irrigation.
The projects were developed in three years of study by Mediwat partners from the Mediterranean area: the Department of Agrarian Engineering of the University of Catania, the Bari Department of the National Research Council, the Authority for Water,Energy and Mineral Resources of Malta, the Water Department of Lemesos (Cyprus), the Crete Polytechnic, the Municipal Authority for Water and Purification of Chania (Greece), the University of Barcelona (Spain), IRSTEA (Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture from Aix en Provence, France) and the Aqualogy Medio Ambiente- Delegation from the Balearic Islands (Spain). Sapiano said that ''on the island of Malta, annual water needs are almost double (64 cubic meters) the availability of water resources (28 cubic meters), over a territory that has the highest population density (1,345 inhabitants per square kilometer) compared with Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, Mallorca and Sicily''.
''Among the causes of this water shortage,'' he said ''is the low rainfall - at an annual average of 550 millimeters, the lowest of all Mediterranean islands except for Cyprus (500 millimeters). The cost of water on Malta is also the highest (alongside Cyprus). In Sicily we find a very different situation: compared with the 1,267 cubic meters needed, there is an availability of 4,746 cubic meters.''
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