NI Water was delighted to recently welcome Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins on site to view the recent completion of an £8 million upgrade at Ballygawley Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW).
An extensive programme of work to upgrade the plant, which is located off Tullybryan Road/Rameen Drive, commenced in Summer 2023. The work aimed to ensure the treatment facility could service the needs of new development, while improving the environment.
The treatment process satisfies a more stringent environmental discharge consent standard and will contribute to improving water quality in the Ballygawley River, a tributary of the River Blackwater, which drains to Lough Neagh.
Infrastructure Minister, Liz Kimmins, said: “I was pleased to see firsthand the work undertaken to complete this critical £8m upgrade. This investment will raise the capacity of the Works by approximately 33% which is great news for the local economy. This will enable the removal of development constraints in Ballygawley, whilst delivering important environmental improvements.
“This lies at the heart of my three-pronged approach and demonstrates that it is already beginning to deliver encouraging results.”
Dr Sara Venning, CEO of NI Water, added: “We at NI Water were delighted to welcome Minister Kimmins to the site to view the recent upgrade work at Ballygawley Wastewater Treatment Works, which will bring many improvements to wastewater services for our customers, as well as supporting local development and improving water quality in the Ballygawley River.
“Boosting the local economy, over 260 people were employed at various stages over the life of the contract.
“With the plant located close to local residents, clear communication was essential. We kept neighbours informed through regular newsletters, especially ahead of periods with increased construction traffic. We extend our sincere thanks to the local community for their patience and cooperation throughout the project.
“This is a great example of investment in essential new wastewater infrastructure, which will benefit the local area for many years to come.”
As well as main contractor GRAHAM, local companies also involved in the upgrade were Cookstown-based TES Group, Tetra Tech RPS and Belfast based designers Doran Consulting.
The existing treatment works remained operational while construction on the new assets progressed. Existing assets were retained where possible and supplemented by new assets, minimising capital cost. The upgraded works has a traditional, sustainable, treatment process, which has the lowest possible energy requirements.
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Notes to Editors:
- The original facility was last upgraded in 1992 and was designed to serve a population equivalent (PE) of around 1500 – the plant has now been upgraded to provide a treatment capacity of 1993 PE – an increase of approximately 33%.
- Wastewater treatment facilities are designed to service domestic and commercial properties. The wastewater treatment capacity is designed to cater for a 25-year period and is determined by reference to factors such as typical water consumption, census data (current number and type of properties, occupancy and population growth forecast) and the potential for future development. For ease of reference, all of these different factors are often distilled into a number referred to as the Population Equivalent.
