North Coast Scheme

The North Coast Waste Water Treatment Scheme is the most complex EU Urban Wastewater Treatment and EU Bathing Waters Directives compliance scheme to be undertaken in Northern Ireland.

At a cost of £45 million, it forms one of Northern Ireland Water’s largest ever single capital investment projects.

The extensive scheme will completely rationalise the existing sewerage systems and reconfigure the network so that wastewater from each of the urban areas of Coleraine, Portrush, Portstewart, Castlerock and Articlave will be collected and transferred to a new two-stage treatment works on a greenfield site at Craigtown More (between Portrush and Portstewart).

Here the wastewater will be treated to a much higher standard, before being discharged offshore through a new long sea outfall pipe. This transfer system will place the treated effluent at a location off the coast of Port Gallen, where the depth and natural currents will provide effective dispersion.

In addition the project involves the laying of some 24 kilometres of pumping mains and gravity sewers along with the construction of eight new innovatively designed pumping stations. Five existing pumping stations will be refurbished and their processes modernized, with other ancillary upgrades made. Existing wastewater treatment works at Ballycairn (Coleraine) and Articlave, along with pumping stations at Bogtown and Ardina will be decommissioned.