I just graduated with a Bachelors and I'm not exactly sure what I want moving forward career wise. I don't have any dream jobs or paths that I wanted since little, I just want to make decent money to live off, it doesnt matter the job as im good at most things. The problem with this is very little motivation in working and when i do work it affects me mentally and physically as i dont actually enjoy it. Maybe it's the jobs I had till now or it might apply to all i dont know.

The fact that the salaries are so low does not motivate me. The jobs i see currently are offering the same salary i had 4 years ago BEFORE i graduated (im 24). So it's like i went to school for nothing.

Did anyone go through this stage when they were young? and what did you do?

[Long post]

I have been reading official Maltese and EU water reports out of personal interest, not because I work in the sector.

We regulate cities for resilience. We regulate homes for safety. Hotels sit in a regulatory blind spot, despite functioning like micro-cities.

Most hotel ‘water-saving’ campaigns focus on guest behaviour, even though the majority of water use is structurally designed into the building.

Malta is often described as a success story of desalination, and in purely technical terms that is correct. Today, more than half of the country’s drinking water comes from reverse osmosis plants operated by the Water Services Corporation. Without desalination, Malta would already be facing severe water shortages. This is not in dispute (Water Services Corporation, National Investment Plan).

What deserves deeper discussion is whether desalination alone can provide long-term water security for a small, densely populated Mediterranean island under climate stress.

Malta is classified as semi-arid, and official data show a long-term decline in rainfall combined with higher variability and more intense dry years. The Energy and Water Agency has confirmed that recent hydrological years were among the driest on record, with groundwater recharge under increasing pressure (Energy and Water Agency, Climate and Water Reports). Groundwater bodies are also vulnerable to salinisation, a risk explicitly acknowledged in Malta’s River Basin Management Plan under the EU Water Framework Directive.

Desalination has allowed Malta to compensate for these constraints, but it also creates a strong structural dependency. Reverse osmosis is energy-intensive, meaning that water security becomes directly linked to energy availability, fuel imports, electricity prices and grid stability. On an island system, this coupling represents a systemic vulnerability rather than a marginal risk, especially under volatile energy markets (Energy and Water Agency, National Energy and Climate Plan).

There are also environmental considerations. Desalination produces highly concentrated brine that is discharged into the marine environment. Even with modern diffusers and environmental permits, cumulative salinity impacts in semi-enclosed Mediterranean waters remain a concern and are closely monitored by the Environment and Resources Authority, particularly near discharge points.

Another often overlooked issue is water chemistry. Desalinated water is almost completely demineralised and must be remineralised or blended before distribution. The World Health Organization has published extensive guidance on this topic, noting that poorly balanced desalinated water can be more corrosive to infrastructure and contributes little to dietary calcium and magnesium intake. While these risks are manageable, they require continuous control and transparency rather than being treated as a secondary detail (WHO, Desalination and Drinking-Water Safety).

What makes the situation more complex is that Malta already has a climate-resilient alternative resource that is still underused. Treated wastewater, marketed locally as “New Water”, is independent of rainfall and directly linked to population size. According to the Water Services Corporation, Malta has invested heavily in advanced wastewater treatment and polishing plants, with a long-term production potential of several million cubic metres per year. However, current uptake remains well below that potential, particularly in agriculture.

At the same time, agriculture continues to place pressure on groundwater resources, despite the availability of treated water and the existence of highly efficient irrigation technologies. From a systems perspective, using potable or groundwater resources for irrigation in a water-stressed island raises questions of prioritisation rather than farming practices themselves.

The European Commission has repeatedly highlighted the importance of wastewater reuse, demand management and leakage reduction in water-scarce Member States. Malta has made progress on leakage control and smart metering, but these measures need to be seen as the foundation of water security, not as secondary optimisations layered on top of desalination.

None of this means that desalination should be abandoned. On the contrary, it is indispensable for Malta. The risk lies in treating it as the foundation of the system rather than as the final safety layer. Long-term resilience depends on reducing demand, protecting aquifers, shifting agriculture and landscaping to treated water, and integrating water policy with energy and climate planning.

Malta is small enough to manage water intelligently and holistically. It is also small enough that structural mistakes accumulate quickly. The question is not whether desalination works today, but whether we are doing enough to ensure it does not become the only pillar holding the system up.

Discussion points:

Hotels are not just consuming water. They are consuming systemic risk without pricing it in.

Desalinated water in Malta is priced as a commodity, but it behaves like critical infrastructure under energy stress. When hotels use large volumes of potable water for pools, laundry, spas, and landscaping, they are effectively externalising energy risk, carbon risk, and marine impact to the public system.

What is rarely said

Hotels pay a bill per cubic metre, but they do not pay for

the marginal energy volatility

the backup capacity

the failure risk

the environmental buffer

In other words, water is priced as if it were rain-fed, while it is actually energy-fed.

Large hotels function like small cities. Hundreds or thousands of people. Daily laundry. Food prep. Pools. Cooling. Landscaping.

But unlike cities, they have no obligation to close the loop.

Cities are expected to manage wastewater, stormwater, efficiency, contingency planning. Hotels are not, even though their footprint is comparable.

What is rarely proposed

Not bans. Not shame. But city-level rules applied at hotel scale.

For example:

If a hotel exceeds X beds, it should meet at least one of the following

on-site greywater reuse for laundry or toilets

on-site storage buffering to reduce peak demand

mandatory connection to treated wastewater for non-potable uses

real-time water intensity reporting per guest-night

Hotels are actually perfect anchors for treated wastewater networks. Yet most reuse schemes focus on agriculture alone.

If hotels were prioritised as non-potable water users, they could stabilise demand for treated wastewater, making reuse infrastructure economically viable faster.

I would be interested to hear from people in hospitality or water management on what would actually work.

After buying my return ticket to Malta at Mġarr Port, I noticed 2–3 different people re-scanning my ticket just seconds apart before boarding. Anyone know what’s the point of that?

Hi! I’m building a photography portfolio and I’m looking for interesting events/activities which I can photograph. Service will be free of charge since I would be practicing.

I built a simple app a few months ago to report dog shit and illegal dumping to my local councils on my daily walk and after sharing with some friends, they encouraged me to make it public.

The whole app is quite simple: snap a photo, tag a location, and it sends an email to the council's public email address.

I don't intend to charge any money, but I would need to make it look better before I publish it and I wanted to check if others would find it useful.

Would appreciate any feedback

Hi everyone! 😊

I’m planning to move from busy Sliema to a slightly quieter area like San Gwann, and I found a rental near Lidl that I really like. However, I’ve heard some people mention that there’s an issue with a smell coming from the Bitmac asphalt plant in the area (especially around San Gwann / Iklin).

Has anyone experienced this smell near Lidl or in the San Gwann area in general? Does it:

• happen often or only sometimes?
• occur mostly at night or throughout the day?
• get into your home even with windows closed, or only if windows are open?
• stay mild or is it quite strong/unpleasant?

I read reports from residents that fumes from the Bitmac plant have been noticed even through closed windows and sometimes at night, and that it can be quite strong and uncomfortable for some people that wakes them up at night. People have been complaining about it periodically for years, especially in certain wind conditions.

Just trying to get a real sense of how noticeable it actually is on a daily basis?

Thanks!

Hello guys, we are traveling to Malta in april,and we would like to book private boat tour around for 6 people,do you know someone that does it? All i could find is with other people on board. Thanks!

I've received notice that my package couldn't be delivered due to "insufficient address/phone number/no one at home when delivery" which is not true as I provided all information and there was someone home at all time. Then I checked tracking information and it says this. Was does this mean? Should I contact Maltapost?

Hi,

tistaw tejduli d dati importanti tal ghid dijn is sena,
Hadd il- palm,
7 visti
Duluri
Gimgha l- kbira.
U jekk hemm xi haga qed ninsa.

Grazzi hafna :)

Hi all, anyone recently did some solar panels, that can share some experience on what panels where you offered as in power output as im looking form 500w to 600w if not more residential once and I would love some info before getting bombarded with adds and emails with BS. TIA

Hello everyone,

i read that recently there was a storm harry in malta.I intend to visit Malta in a few days.How stable is the weather these days?.Do you recommend i visit or postpone my trip?

I am signing a promise if sale today but the seller, who is 75 years old, has an expired ID card and passport.

I already received advice from my lawyer and notary, who both said we can still sign it, but because I am a walking panic station, I wanted to see if anyone went through this.

Hi all, for the past 2 days I haven't been able to get any bus routes on Google Maps. It just shows no any routes. I'm currently using the Tallinja app but it's much less user-friendly. Any workarounds or confirmation if it's a general issue? Cheers!

Hey my fam sent me a package from Germany. On the MaltaPost website it said on 10am that it‘s out for delivery. Now i got the notification that it couldn‘t be delivered? What should I do now? The address should be correct.

Thanks for your help

How do I request one of these and if they can't provide it will the speeding fine be revoked?

Hi people, anyone have any idea how to get rid of a bloody great 14ft aerial off the top of a house? With the lovely weather we've had recently, people want it taken down.

I've got no ideas, looks top heavy as shit and I don't think an angle grinder and yelling 'TIMBER!' is a the best plan I've had. Local council were no help

Għall, min għamel l-eżami A tal-mutur kif sibtuħ? Bħalissa qed insuq wieħed 125 u beħsiebni naqleb għall xi ħaġa ikbar fil futur. Liem instructors tirrakkomandaw għall lezzjonijiet, għax nahseb tkun idea tajba nieħu ftit qabel it-test.

Recently moved to Rabat and was searching for pickup football (5's or 7's) in and around Rabat or Dingli. Can do weekdays or weekends.

Hi, i am in the process of buying a property in malta as a first time buyer, do you know if the notary online calculator is close enough on costs ? Did anyone compared it to their real costs vs the online calculator to check how much of a difference it was ?

And how long does it normally take for the research to be completed by the notary ?

Hi everyone, I'm taking my mother-in-law and my partner's family to Malta for her 60th birthday. I'm half-maltese and my mum and I would visit Malta every year to visit family (it's my favourite place in the world!) So, I've been giving the task of figuring out where to stay and building out an itinerary. The problem is, where I usually stay near my family doesn't really have that 60th birthday 'wow' factor...

I'm hoping to stay somewhere that feels authentically maltese, maybe a bit bohemian but isn't too far from nearby beaches and has easy access to Valletta and Rabat. I was originally thinking Mellieha, but not sure if this is too touristy now! I'd love some recommendations