Malta National Water Conservation Campaign

Malta National Water Conservation Campaign - Water Be The Change

Background

The biggest challenge in the Maltese Water Sector is the scarcity of natural freshwater resources, as evidendced by the fact that Malta has the lowest natural freshwater availability per capita of all the EU MS.

The demand of water resources is currently addressed through four different sources: abstractions of groundwater; harvesting of rainwater runoff; desalination of seawater and the treatment of wastewater. Desalination currently contributes to 60% of total domestic water supply, and is expected to increase in its overall contribution. Within this context and not withstanding the energy requirement for water distribution and wastewater treatment presents the ideal framework to promote efficiency to the general public.

Against this background, the importance of awareness of the current state of affairs in the local water sector, and the dissemination of such information to all stakeholders should be emphasised.

Aims and Goals

The aim of the campaign is to promote the efficient use of water resources at household and agricultural levels. In order to do so, a "moving campaign" has been established that has reached every village in Malta to promote the importance of water saving, through the understanding of how limited natural water resources are, and the dependence on Non Conventional Water Resources (NCWR). A water-saving kit has been given to all households in Malta, which includes water tap airators, and efficient showerheads. Customers may also book a free household water audit to identify any leaks that may be present at household level. An intensive online media campaign has also been initiated which showcased the complete national water cycle, through a series of interviews and documentaries.

Actions taken

The Campaign has adopted a public engagement strategy, where through the distribution of water-saving kits, awareness has been generated at household level to promote water saving practices. Furthermore, water related interventions have also been undertaken at households which registered high rates of water losses. An educative component has also been developed, targeting young pupils that presents the whole water cycle for the Maltese islands, including the use of reverse osmosis technologies and Wastewater treatment.

Main Achievement to date

The campaign has distributed the water saving kit to more than 90,000 households and engaged with almost 400,000 national residents. Public engagement is now reaching its final period, and is expected to conclude by June 2023.

Partners

Ministry of Energy, Malta Enterprise and Environment, Malta Ministry of Education, Malta Environment and Resources Authority, Malta Water Services Corporation, Malta Parks Malta

Water - Be the Change is a national water conservation campaign launched in September 2019 with the aim of delivering an effective educational and awareness-raising campaign on the optimised and efficient use of water resources to facilitate a cultural shift in people's behaviour towards water conservation on the Maltese islands.

Name

Manuel Sapiano

Affiliation

Water and Energy Agency, Malta

Keywords

Awareness Raising Education Stakeholder Engagement

Country

Malta

Start year

Sat, 06/01/2019 - 12:00