NORTHERN Ireland Water was host to regional development minister Danny Kennedy when he visited the Magilligan area in the North West where an £8m programme of work is rationalising and upgrading the wastewater infrastructure in the popular tourist area.
At the heart of the investment is the construction of a wastewater treatment works on a greenfield site previously owned by the Ministry of Defence. Designed for population projections to the year 2030, the facility will treat all sewerage flows from Oughtymoyle, Drumavalley, Aughil, Benone, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) facility and HM Prison Magilligan, before discharging the final effluent to the North Channel via a new outfall pipe at Magilligan Point.
Kennedy said: “The local watercourses, including Lough Foyle and the bathing waters at Benone Strand, will significantly benefit from this major investment and the construction industry in Northern Ireland is being given a welcome boost by the £8m investment.”
Explaining the over-all Benone area sewerage scheme, NI Water’s chief executive Trevor Haslett said:
“In an overhaul of the existing arrangements, all current wastewater treatment works at Aughil, Drumavalley and those operated by the Ministry of Defence and HM Prison Magilligan, will be converted to modern new pumping stations. When the entire scheme is complete these pumping stations will transfer all wastewater and stormwater to the new Magilligan WwTW for effective treatment before being discharged to sea through the new outfall pipe at Magilligan Point.”
A further benefit is the decommissioning and removal of the existing Benone WwTW along with the soakaway to which it discharges. The Benone vacuum pumping station will be refurbished and all flows from that part of the network will be transferred directly to the new Magilligan WwTW.
At the new pumping stations many of the above-ground buildings will be demolished and tanks will be sunk as close to ground level as possible. At Magilligan treatment works, the control building has been designed with a curved roof to echo a traditional agricultural building and will be finished in a subdued colour to integrate with its surroundings. All spoil excavated on the site will be reused in landscaping the area around the new works.”
