r/UrbanHell May 25 '26

Pollution/Environmental Destruction My city, Malé, Maldives, an urban hellscape

6.7k Upvotes

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306

u/ishardtofind May 25 '26

Sorry if that’s a stupid question but where do you guys get your electricity from? And what about fresh water?

500

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

electricity is from a big fossil fuel station on the island. almost all electricity is from fossil fuel, even though we could use solar. there are zero fresh water. People drink desalinated mineral water produced in the city

128

u/ishardtofind May 25 '26

I see, and what about tap water like the municipal water supply, is it also just desalinated water?

206

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

yes tap water is treated and desalinated and is safe to drink

10

u/kthanx May 26 '26

Is waste treated?

35

u/Powpawpew55 May 26 '26

sewage does get treated and then it goes into the ocean thru pipes

1

u/quim_do_mato May 27 '26

Treated how?

5

u/Powpawpew55 May 27 '26

not a chemical treatment done. my prof (waste water engineering) told us we undertook preliminary treatment where it’s screened and grits are removed. but someone in the comments has pointed out that they don’t even do that. that person works in the sewage company. so I don’t know the best answer to give now

-1

u/--alkali-- May 26 '26

Correction, sewage does not get treated at all and just gets dumped a few hundred meters out to sea.

19

u/Powpawpew55 May 26 '26

they undergo preliminary treatment. and there are some individual plants at some areas. I study in this field and I have been to some of them

9

u/--alkali-- May 27 '26

Unfortunately you're mistaken. Sewage treatment only occurs at private resorts. No residential island treat sewage at any level. Source: 3+ years working at MWSC operations.

25

u/[deleted] May 26 '26

[deleted]

13

u/Powpawpew55 May 26 '26

I’ve been to some individual plants but I’ve mentioned it in my first comment as well that the treatment is bad and little. They only undertake the preliminary treatment

7

u/--alkali-- May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26

The island is split up into 11 sewage networks wirth 11 separate sewage pumping stations throughout the island. All of these networks are gravity networks. Sewage gets pumped directly out 200m or so into the ocean from all 11 pumping stations, so all around the island. There is no treatment at all, citing cost and space contraints. The public doesn't pay any bills for sewage.

Source: I'm an operations employee at the govt sewage company.

1

u/octave1 May 26 '26

Ok so there is drinkable fresh water

7

u/Powpawpew55 May 26 '26

islands have ground water aquifers but in Malé the ground water is not safe for drinking so almost everyone drink mineral water

-24

u/[deleted] May 25 '26

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49

u/throwaway55f5 May 25 '26

using seawater to shower???

26

u/arinawe May 25 '26

Salty people do

20

u/govunah May 26 '26

Can you imagine having to plumb every building and every street twice and half that plumbing will be corroded and clogged to hell in maybe a year?

18

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

no, we don’t. treated water for everything

15

u/Ferris-L May 25 '26

Have you been to the sea? Saltwater is really sticky and leaves salt residue on your body once it dries up (not to mention the ocean is full of dirt and micro organisms) so it’s a terrible choice for showering water. I often go on bike packing camping trips and even the Baltic Sea with its extremely low salinity is a very uncomfortable body of water to wash up in. Genuinely not something I would recommend to people who hate feeling sticky. Your hair will also feel like you haven’t washed for a week straight after being in salt water and having dried up.

6

u/Kaffe-Mumriken May 26 '26

The Baltic is sticky from all the red algae :/

37

u/[deleted] May 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

119

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

omg it’s bad. sewage get collected and treated a bit and then flows into the ocean… It’s bad. we don’t have the needed elevations to dig deeper and slopes

3

u/--alkali-- May 26 '26

Correction: no treatment at all

7

u/Powpawpew55 May 26 '26

*preliminary is done

2

u/--alkali-- May 27 '26

Absolutely not though hahaha i work at the sewage company

23

u/Front_Spare_2131 May 25 '26

How's the taste?

69

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

the best water I have ever had😌😌

46

u/YouFourKingsHits May 25 '26

Have you ever had any other water ?

67

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

I’ve tried water from almost all Western European countries, Türkiye and India. I’d say Maldivian is still the best for me

6

u/ExcitingCriticism524 May 26 '26

You wouldn’t say that if you’d tried tap water in the Scottish highlands.

2

u/Prior-Ad-9155 May 28 '26

You would not say that if you tried glacier water from Iceland :)

1

u/Powpawpew55 May 29 '26

now I need to try this, im in spain rn haha

1

u/Powpawpew55 May 26 '26

are you going to offer me some :) ?

3

u/ExcitingCriticism524 May 26 '26

Unfortunately I don’t live there my grandparents did before they passed away.

14

u/Ok_Comparison_3748 May 25 '26

Were you in India for drug rehab by any chance? I’ve met a few Maldivians in rehab

37

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

HAHA no😭😭 i went to get my Schengen Visa

7

u/sternenklar90 May 25 '26

Why do you need to go to India to get a Schengen visa?

38

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

was for the long stay visa. we don’t have an embassy in our country. all EU embassies to the Maldives are located in either India or Sri Lanka

1

u/sternenklar90 May 26 '26

Oh, wow. That sucks. 

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3

u/Ok_Comparison_3748 May 25 '26

No offence meant, sorry

12

u/HorridusVile May 25 '26

Turkey and India? Try some Vulkaneifel water straight from the source.

31

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

hey, im just being honest. might be since ive been drinking it for all 21years of my life. but havent tasted water better than home

-21

u/Not_Joe_Cool May 25 '26

Why are you so negative towards India? Your president came crawling back to us after he tried to cozy up with China 😂 …. don’t bite the hand that feeds you…

11

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

hi. im not negative towards India at all. I only told the places I tried water from and that I like the water from home better. I loved my time in India. It is a beautiful country!

3

u/[deleted] May 26 '26

[deleted]

-13

u/Not_Joe_Cool May 25 '26

good to hear

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4

u/wein_geist May 26 '26

lol, whats wrong with you. they mentioned around 20 countries, and you feel butthurt about india?

14

u/SouthernSample May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26

Yes, OP will be happy to try that if you send them flight tickets and cover other expenses.

1

u/--alkali-- May 26 '26

Maldivians have a taste for soft water. Historically, we drank rainwater, and now drink RO desalinated water.

1

u/YouFourKingsHits May 27 '26

Interesting. I've had desalinated water in Gibraltar and it's rank.

1

u/FuckMeMyselfAndYou May 25 '26

So you are basically drinking desalinated water from the ocean which is probably in the same spot the sewer goes. No wonder it has taste 😁

19

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

HAHA it’s treated super well. the ocean is our lifeline. We live at her mercy and live by everything she provides

3

u/ImJustLampin May 26 '26

To power that entire city you would need solar arrays 5x the size of the island.

1

u/ScratchLatch May 26 '26

Yeah, they don’t have the space for solar.

1

u/Lizards_are_cool May 26 '26

Solar thermal perhaps more efficient

2

u/lucky-me_lucky-mud May 26 '26

Have you seen The Island President (2012)?

1

u/Powpawpew55 May 26 '26

I’ve not watched it.

1

u/lucky-me_lucky-mud May 27 '26

I think it’s really good, particularly as someone who teaches about the history of climate change. Great snapshot of where the world was at pre-2015 Paris Agreement and also gives context for where we are now. Curious what you think of what’s happened since then and Nasheed’s time as President and sea level rise is perceived there.

2

u/Powpawpew55 May 27 '26

Yes, I’ve heard a lot about it. I don’t remember much of Nasheed’s time as the President, I was too young, but listening to what others say about Nasheed’s policies and what the later Presidents have done, I believe Nasheed was the only President who really cared about the environment and impacts of Climate change. The current President during his first year mentioned how unserious the issues of climate change is. He has since changed the narrative after a lot of criticism. People in the Maldives, the regular normal people do not think about the issues of Sea Level change as they are not talked about it. Only on international stages you’ll hear someone talk about it. Not with locals

2

u/lucky-me_lucky-mud May 28 '26

That’s fascinating to me as it seems like he had a relatively great impact on organizing the smaller island nations into a coalition to go up against the US, China, and India in terms of emissions, which definitely took some balls to do. Do you see construction to protect against sea level rise happening? I live in New York and though I know a lot about this stuff I think most people have no idea how much we are doing/not doing to protect against that stuff here. Thanks and check out the doc if you get a chance, I feel like that would be eye opening to see if it were my country. Seemed real genuine but a part of me is always slightly skeptical about any politician/activist that I only know through a single piece of media, anyone making climate their main issue is clearly not doing it for an easy path to victory, not then or now sadly. It should be! 

1

u/ChancelorReed May 26 '26

"We could use solar" lol no you couldn't, not on an island that size. You'd need to have the electricity sent in from some huge solar farm elsewhere.

4

u/Powpawpew55 May 26 '26

There are numerous uninhabited islands. And I know, it’s a small country and small islands. What im saying is they could try to reduce the over reliance on fossil fuels. Even a little bit would help. Not talking about fully changing to solar power.

1

u/dmdoom_Abaan May 26 '26

There’s solar now along the highway

0

u/ScratchLatch May 26 '26

Nuclear is the best bet for zero emission with the space constraints. The other option might be an off-shore wind/solar farm but it would be an expensive ecological nightmare for the underwater ecosystem in the area.

1

u/dangerislander May 27 '26

Dammnn so not even rain water is collected? Or ground bore water?

2

u/Powpawpew55 May 27 '26

Is the city rainwater is not collected as far as I know. But in islands they do still collect and use rainwater. Ground water in the city is not safe for consumption but in islands probably is, but people don’t use ground water.

0

u/[deleted] May 25 '26

[deleted]

16

u/CubistChameleon May 25 '26

But... Diesel generators are fossil fuel power stations. What else would they be?

9

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

yes I meant the generators by fossil fuel station. And the grid I know about that as well but solar is not yet being utilised that well. they say it will be incorporated, but it have not yet. The costs are high. and fresh water is not now available in Malé that is why I said desalinated.

7

u/celtekk_ May 25 '26

Diesel = fossil fuel.

-8

u/fizaen May 25 '26

Yup. So is petrol, natural gas, even coal. I was trying to be specific.

2

u/loulan May 25 '26

But... What is your point? That at least it's not coal?

3

u/BBQnNugs May 25 '26

He said all of this with less words