North coast wastewater treatment works opens
Posted: Monday 28th January 2008
Biwater Treatment are delighted to announce the opening of the new state-of- the-art North Coast Wastewater Treatment Works in Portrush.
Delivered ahead of time and within budget the facility is part of Northern Ireland
Water’s (NIW) £45 million North Coast Scheme which is the most complex urban wastewater treatment and EU bathing water compliance scheme ever undertaken in Northern Ireland.
Up to 54 million litres of wastewater can be treated at the new facility every day, ensuring wastewater from Castlerock, Articlave, Coleraine, Portstewart and Portrush is treated to the highest standard.
The works were officially opened by Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy with Biwater representatives Mark Studholme, John Abraham, Dave Marsh and Tom Standring in attendance.
David Rome, Operations Manager at Biwater Treatment said, ‘We are delighted to attend the opening of this scheme which represents an entirely successful partnering arrangement between NIW and Biwater Graham joint venture design and build contractors.’
In addition to the new treatment works the North Coast Scheme included the building or refurbishment of 14 pumping stations, the laying of 25km of new sewers and the construction of a 1200m long sea outfall.
The North Coast is designated as an Area of outstanding beauty and during the construction period special care was taken to minimise impact on the surrounding area and wildlife.
Contractors met weekly with DRD Roads Service and planned all construction work on roads around peak holiday seasons and key events, trenchless technologies were employed where possible for the laying of all pipelines and sewers, all spoil excavated during the construction process was reused and various surveys were taken in order to minimise impact on any local plant and animal communities.
With no direct discharges of untreated wastewater at any coastal sites the quality of the bathing waters surrounding the North coast has been greatly improved as a result of this scheme.
The scheme also aims to accommodate future residential and commercial growth in the area to the year 2030.
