This year was the 5th year in operation and a year of expansion and stability for our product line.

Surving 5 years in operation feels like a significant milestone, business failure after 5 years is significantly less likely than in the first 5 years so I am looking forward to staibilising our impact in Malta and moving towards Tappwater strengthening its position in the market so that we can enable more families to be free from plastic bottles.

Over 7,000 households in Malta now rely on Tappwater products for their drinking water

Over 1,800 new customers purchased Tappwater FStarter Packs in 2025 and we have now sold over 7,000 water filters in Malta, customer retention is high and the impact of the households using Tappwater Filters in Malta means that over 4 Million plastic bottles are avoided every year.

These plastic bottles avoided by Tappwater cusomers represents just 3% of the total number of PET Bottles collected in 2024 by the BCRS scheme

Of course not all the PET Plastic bottles collected by BCRS are for drinking water, we do not ahve access to the data for a better idea of the impact you are having as Tappwater customers but we can use this figure as a reference point.

4 Million plastic bottles avoided each year is amazing! Its a 33% increase on the calculated 2024 figures so a huge step forward.

The impact of the tap water scheme in Malta in 2025

The relaunch of the Tap Water Scheme in 2025 by REWS collaborating with Water Services Corporation to promote the use of tap water for drinking has had a significant impact with a high percentage of the new Tappwater customers this year claiming the grant on offer.

The grant has been extended for 2026 at 60% with a maximum of €100.

The development in 2025 was the launch of Water Service Corporations Tap water Revolution

This new initiative promoted the use of activated carbon filters in Malta in preference to reverse osmosis systems citing the reason that:

A simple charcoal filter is all you need to enjoy great-tasting tap water at home. WSC has already done the heavy lifting with their advanced RO treatment plants, making home RO systems unnecessary. Additionally, home RO systems are more expensive to purchase and waste up to 70% of water during the filtration process, making them both costly and environmentally inefficient.

WSC

By charcoal filter of course WSC are referring to the type of activated carbon water filters that Tappwater has been marketing since 2020.

2025 The year of free water filters for vulnerable households

The Tap Water Voucher Scheme was another exciting initiative that delivered 13,000 vouchers to vulnerable households that gave them €100 off an activated carbon filter.

Here at Tappwater we have been a supplier for this scheme working in partnership with a small group of retailers in Malta to provide a mechanism for these households to exchange their voucher for an annual starter pack of either our EcoPro or EcoPro Compact water filters with nothing more to pay.

From our perspective at Tappwater in Malta we can see that there has been a significant impact on the move away from bottled water in Malta and towards filtered water from the tap powered by these two iniatives and the reluctance to waste time at BCRS machines.

That being said the BCRS system has had a positive effect on the recycling % in Malta which is its main aim, the rates have reached a heady 80% of PET Bottles being recycled. As far as water bottles are concerned, we remian in favour of avoiding the use of plastic rather than recycling.

A balzing MFCC Malta Trade Show

The 2025 Malta Trade Show was a great success with customers queueing to purchase Tappwater filters with a grant. Our experience at the Trade Show has always been a positive one and we are comitted to building on this event in 2026.

With over 3,000 views this Facebook Post showing our MFCC team was the most popuelar post this year.

Expanded retail partner network in Malta

2025 also saw us expand our retail partner network with a strong collaboration with Homemate in all 5 of their stores and a relaunch of our retail service centre at ReRoot in Balzan where technical support, parts and adapters are all available.

In 2026 we plan to expand our retail footprint further in Malta and Gozo with more resources committed to supporting the network of 26 retail stores.

2025 Premju Servizz bi Tbissima Finalists

This year we attaned the Premju Servizz bi Tbissima award ceremomny as finalists. Its a proud moment for me to attand as a small company amongst some of the giants of Malta in all retail sectors. We ahve been in the final every year since the launch in 2020 and we were fortunate to win on 2023. Just to be there is a huge experience and I am grateful to all our custoners who vote for us year after year.

Tappwater AI Expert

In December, after a long period of trials, we introduced the Tappwater AI Expert that is an AI driven customer service assistant fully trainined on aspects of Tappwater in Malta.

Currently at the year end, the Tappwater AI Expert is handling 70% of all support initiated messages on facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Email. I took a long time thinking about whether to introduce this system, and also experimentiung with different platforms many of which were rejcted because they simply were disapointing.

However I believe there is a balance between economic drivers and effectiveness and I think this has been achieved with our current set up. You only need to write "Talk to a human" or "Talk to a person" and your message will be transferred to me for my attention.

I review all messages answered by the Tappwater AI Expert on an ongoing basis so that more knowledge and training can be added to the Tappwater AI Expert's knowledge.

Has this implementation of an AI Expert taken a job? This was something I had considered carefully, in fact this implementation has created a part time job for a Retail Sales Support Specialist a role I am introducing in January 2026 to support our retail partners.

Financially it is not possible for me to introduce a human customer support person and a retail sales support specialist, and so instead of wating until the customer support role could be financed, I made this role more manageable for myself by engaging an AI assistant, so I can create the role of Retail Support Specialist.

Is AI a bad thing? We shall see, for now we have Tappwater AI Expert online 24/7 and myself as back up for when human intervention is needed. Your feedback is always appreciated also, let me know how you get on with it!

Social Impact

Every year, quite behind the scenes, we provide products to NGO's, families and other organisations we feel we can support. In 2025 over €2,000 was donated to organisations of which a part is an annual commitment. You can read more here

News from Tappwater globally

This year I visited Tappwater's global office in Barcelona. My visit was part of the integration of Tappwater Malta into the global movement of Tappwater that is now present in 50 countries. During 2025 we have completed the rebranding of Tappwater Malta to fall inline with the global aspirations of Tappwater which is now fully owned by Bluewater a Swedish Reverse Osmosis technology company.

My visit gave me an introduction to the exciting new products Tappwater is launching in 2026 as well as an increasing asset bank to support retail sales through our partners in Malta.

I also had the opportunity to visit Bluewater in Stockholm and came away from that visit with more awareness of the technical support, research and innovation is directly supporting Tappwater's global growth.

Thank you to you

This year was a year of gratitude for me, running a small business is sometimes not that easy, always dealing with a lack of resources, finance but never lacking enthusiasm for the Tappwater mission to eiliminate plastic bottles for drinking water.

A huge shout to you, the Tappwater customers in Malta. Your messages of thanks and support are what sustains my energy everyday. Sending love and hugs to all and best wishes for 2026.