Commissioning Of New Ł12M Water Treatment Works Underway

8 September 2004
COMMISSIONING OF NEW Ł12M WATER TREATMENT WORKS UNDERWAY
The new Ł12 million Lough Macrory Treatment Works, which will supply the Omagh and surrounding area, has recently started a commissioning period and will be fully operational by the end of September.

The state-of-the-art works has been designed to treat up to 18 million litres of water a day to meet the latest EU drinking water directives.

William Duddy, Director of Customer Services at Water Service said: "Over the next month, Water Service scientific staff and experienced engineers from Earth Tech Engineering Ltd will phase in operations at the new treatment plant, collecting and analysing water samples on a daily basis to ensure that they meet the most recent EU regulations."

Mr Duddy continued: "The sophisticated treatment processes in the works use modern methods of disinfection. As a result, customers in the Omagh area may initially experience a slight taste difference in the higher quality drinking water that is delivered."

Construction of the new Lough Macrory facility employed innovative partnering arrangements between Water Service and the contractors, which helped to ensure on-time completion. Its design is highly advanced with a process installed that allows all water used during the treatment process to be fully recycled.

Capable of treating six million litres a day more than its predecessor (an increase of 50%), the new treatment works, when operating successfully, will allow the old facility to be fully demolished and landscaping of the area carried out.

The new Lough Macrory Water Treatment Works is one of 300 water and sewerage infrastructure projects planned by Water Service in the period to 2006. This scheme has been 70% funded by the EU Building Sustainable Prosperity Programme.

Mr Duddy said: "This innovative project forms an integral part of Water Service’s Water Resource Strategy and represents a huge investment in upgrading the supply and quality of drinking water to meet EU Drinking Water Directives. Water Service is committed to improving compliance with environmental and drinking water quality standards throughout Northern Ireland."

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