NI Water to invest £15m in sewage treatment upgrades

NI Water to invest £15m in sewage treatment upgrades

25 May 2022

NORTHERN Ireland Water has outlined a near £8.5m investment proposal for Downpatrick to upgrade the town’s sewage treatment plant and extensive sewer network.

During a briefing with local politicians on Monday night, senior officials also revealed that an additional £6.8m is to be invested in significantly improving wastewater facilities in Annsborough.

The investment in Downpatrick and Annsborough is part of a near £170m planned investment across the Newry, Mourne and Down Council area.

Officials have confirmed that £90m in capital funding has been earmarked to improve the sewerage infrastructure and almost £80 in improving water quality which will help deliver the local authority’s ambitious develop plan which aims to provide 15,000 new homes by 2030 and help create in excess of 9,000 jobs.

As part of the Downpatrick investment, £8.4m has been earmarked for the sewage treatment plant at the Belfast Road with major work proposed for three sewage pumping stations at the Strangford Road (£140,000), Ardenlee (£240,000) and Ardfern (£100,000).

In Annsborough, the near £7m will be used to address issues across the sewerage network, local councillors were told on Monday night.

Elsewhere, plans have been drawn up to invest £3m in a new clear water tank at the Fofanny water treatment plan in the Mournes to aid security of supply, with almost £5m earmarked for a new trunk main linking Fofanny and Altnadue.

Addressing Monday night’s council meeting, NI Water’s Ronan Larkin, the organisation’s finance and regulation director, said NI Water was aware of the Newry, Mourne and Down local development plan which aims to deliver 9,000 new jobs and over 15,000 new homes over the next eight years.

He said NI Water wanted to ensure that its investment proposal was able to meet the local authority’s needs across the district.

“If your plan is to come to fruition and we want to see a thriving, growing prosperous and safe Northern Ireland and also in this council area, then we need your help,” Mr Larkin told councillors.

“If your local development plan is to bear fruit, you need us to be able to supply clean, safe public drinking water supply yo all of those new homes and industries. 

“We need to supply clean water for industry, such as those involved in food production and other roles. Equally, if there are to be 15,000 new homes in the area, those houses have to be able to connect to a modern, efficient, wastewater drainage system that takes the waste away from houses and businesses and treats it safely and then discharges it safely back into the environment in a way that is environmentally friendly and pollution free.”

He urged councillors and their MLAs to do all they can to ensure that NI 

Water is provided with the funding that it needs to upgrade the water and sewerage network, not just in the local council area, but across Northern Ireland.

It was also confirmed that the second phase of the ambitious plan to repair the iconic Mourne Wall is due to start shortly, while celebrations are planned for next October to mark the 100th anniversary of the sod cutting ceremony on the Silent Valley reservoir.