Updated on 30/03/2026 with ROV Survey Notice by Transport Malta
Over the past few days an interesting exercise has been brewing related to Ras il-Ħobż in Gozo, a diving site which sits just under a wastewater treatment and water polishing plant that serves all of the island of Gozo.
Maltese European Parliament representative Peter Agius posted on 23 March a video claimed to be wastewater being pumped out off Ras il-Ħobż and stating that the video was shown in the European Parliament to support a petition for enforcement of environmental standards in the Maltese Islands.
The video was noted to be undated, but on social media a well-known underwater videographer stated that the footage may have been part of footage he shot years ago and that since the pipeline must have been repaired.
I would like to explain what kicked off this whole discussion about Ras il Hobz. Back in 2016/17 WSC, had problems at their water treatment plant, long story cut short, I made my film “Pinnacle of Excellence” which hilighted the problems on the dive site there.
The problem was fixed finally in 2019. Fast forward to 2026. Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar asked if they could use a piece of my film at a discussion in Brussels Clean Seas conference and I agreed (unwisely as it turned out), BUT I stressed that the problem had now been fixed. The film has patently been used out of context and misused to present a situation that no longer existed, which I am much aggrieved about. The interesting thing is also that back in 2016 none of the people who are shouting now were interested in getting involved, when I was lobbying politicians and the WSC.
For those who are still talking about raw sewage being discharged, I would like to point out that water discharged from a pipe after processing at a higher temperature than the surrounding seawater will always appear discoloured and cloudy. I would urge anyone qualified to dive to the depth of the discharge, to take samples to be analysed to substantiate their claims and enable appropriate action to be taken. I am sure WSC would be only too happy to receive the results.
Comment from Roy Davison, the videographer who had shot the original footage showing a broken pipeline at Ras il-Ħobż
Another technical diver however rebutted that the same situation was present in 2023.
If that was the story, it comes to no surprise, as Ras il-Ħobz is well known by divers to be frequently the site of raw sewage being noted being released in the sea (Link 1, Link 2) , especially after heavy rains. In fact, it’s not the first time awful leaks are seen even on land from the plant going down towards the sea. The story so far is simple… when the plant has issues handling the pressure from rains, or the much publicised illegal dumping of farm waste (link 1, 2, 3), the treatment plant stops working or needs maintenance.
WSC Press release on 26 March
To add “a cherry on a cake” on this report, following the MEP’s post, the Water Services Corporation sent a “a team of professional underwater divers” down there to check, followed by a press release, including a video, to disprove Agius’ claims and footage, which it outright indicated in its press release to be “fake”.
WSC said:
“…Following the publication of this footage, WSC immediately deployed a team of professional underwater divers to inspect the outfall pipe at Ras il-Ħobż. The inspection has been completed this morning. The divers found no damaged pipe. There is no broken infrastructure at this location. What is depicted in the circulated footage does not reflect the situation on site.
Underwater footage recorded by the dive team this morning is attached to this press release as evidence.”
https://www.wsc.com.mt/independent-dive-inspection-confirms-no-pipe-damage-at-ras-il-hobz-footage-authenticity-seriously-questioned/
Now we understand that WSC’s speciality is not diving, but we noted some issues here….
Depth
The diver in the video shows through his diving computer that the max depth reached at Minute 2.46 to be 65.7 Metres. At this point it’s also clear that the diver has turned back and starts ascending. No drainage leaks were shown and pipe seems intact… however…..
Just a few years ago we were told that this pipe was repaired… and that it was a complex operation needing saturation divers due to working at depths of up to 90m!
https://tvmnews.mt/en/news/watch-they-lived-for-6-days-in-a-compression-chamber-to-repair-sewage-pipe-in-gozo/
Given the diver in the video above clearly turned back once close to 66 metres…. there’s quite a bit of unchecked pipe…as the pipe gets to the deeper depth incrementally on a sandy slope, which means it may be more than just 20/30 metres further out.
“Professional underwater divers”, “dive team”?
Any SCUBA diver who has done anything beyond the most basic diving training knows that the normally accepted safe limit for diving with normal compressed air is ca. 50m. Many agencies nowadays recommend even less depth to be reached, with some recommending the standard to be a maximum of 30m END (Equivalent Narcotic Depth).
Hence, someone diving on air, as the diver’s computer is set as seen in the picture below showing “21/00”, would definitely not be expected to dive to 66m or 90m as WSC so nicely told us the pipeline reaches down. At 66m, common training tells us that the diver is close to risking both a higher degree of Nitrogen Narcosis as well as a Central Nervous System toxicity hit.
Which also made us realise…. WSC mentions a dive team…. but nowhere in the footage do we get the feeling of this diver being accompanied by anyone. The sounds we hear and vision we see during this footage only indicates that this diver was on his own, well below the maximum “safe” operating depth for air, using an open-circuit scuba system and an underwater scooter (unusual for deep diving for surveys).
In fact, some commentators also noted that at depth, the diver’s breathing rate was quite high, which is in itself an indicator of stress and which may push the diver into narcosis or CNS toxicity faster!
We wish to disbelieve that the WSC (a government entity) engaged a potentially solo diver using recreational-grade equipment and inadequate breathing gases to survey a sewage pipeline which goes down to 80+ metres. If that is the case, the Occupational Health & Safety Authority should be called in before someone gets killed!
Water Services Corporation, you’re invited to give your comments and provide us any evidence on the above, happy to report your version too! (we are emailing them at the same time as publishing this article).
Update: Transport Malta publishes notice about ROV Survey
In a strange, but also tragi-comedic development when factoring in our article above, Transport Malta issued a notice of an ROV Survey of the pipeline on the 27 March 2026, to be held on 30 March 2026.
The ROV Survey may probably confirm to certain degree whether the pipeline is in good order or not, without risking diver’s lives. Whether untreated / insufficiently drainage is pumped out can only be confirmed by the nearby plant operators at surface, as it is fully understood that this depends on whether the plant is operating as it should or not.
However, we cannot fail but comment, that if this Survey has been so easy to organise, we fail to understand why the survey of the 26 March was commissioned. As at time of writing, WSC did not reply to our communications.
Why is Ras il-Ħobż important for divers?
Ras il-Ħobż is a prime diving site in Gozo, home to an underwater rock fomation normally called the pinnacle rising from the ca. 80m seabed up to just about 7m below sea level, with the pinnacle top being just about 20m out from the main reef shoreline. The site is a prime site for both beginners and technical divers who may reach depths up to 100m from shore with ease.
The entry is extremely easy, with the nearby rocky parking area (partially an abondoned saltpans area) just about 2m above sea level, with only one single railing needed to assist divers to descend in the water.
The site is sheltered from the most common Westerley to North West and North East winds, making the site available for diving on most days of the year.