Lurgan: £34m investment at Castor Bay to increase output capacity to 115 million litres of water a day – enough to fill nearly 1.5 million baths
Over 250,000 customers in Armagh and Down are to benefit from a multi-million-pound scheme designed to safeguard delivery of their drinking water for the next 25 years.
NI Water announced today (Monday, December 1) the award of a multi-million-pound programme of work to the Farrans-Glanua Joint Venture (JV). At the heart of the £34m scheme will be the construction of a new pumping station at Castor Bay Water Treatment Works, near Lurgan, to replace the existing facility built in 1970.
A new dedicated high-voltage electrical supply will also be incorporated within the NI Water-owned site; replacing the current ageing system. The new assets will be future proofed with enhanced connectivity to accommodate potential integration of Solar PV, supporting NI Water’s Net Zero Strategy.
Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins said: “This much-needed scheme is good news for over 250,000 customers in the Armagh and Down area. This major £34million scheme at Castor Bay Water Treatment Works will ensure continued supplies of clean safe drinking water into the future.
“I also commend NI Water on increasing the operational resilience at this site and am delighted that NI Water is continuing to make best use of the funding provided by my Department to ensure that such new assets will benefit customers now and in the future.”
Tzvetelina Bogoina, NI Water’s director of infrastructure delivery, commented: “As part of our strategic planning we look at the balance between water supply and demand across the network, taking into account population growth forecasts. This three-year programme of work at Castor Bay is a proactive measure by NI Water to meet the demand for drinking water in the South, East and Central Water Resource Zones until at least 2042.
“The Farrans-Glanua JV brings a wealth of experience in civil construction, process, mechanical and electrical engineering to this upgrade, which will be carried out in phases to ensure continued operation of existing water supply assets.
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"Technical and project management support for the extensive improvements is being provided by WSP UK Ltd. These key framework partners will work collaboratively with NI Water’s Infrastructure Delivery team and their local supply chain to ensure the best value for money solution is achieved.”
The existing station is capable of transferring up to 95 million litres of drinking water a day from Castor Bay Water Treatment Works to Ballydougan Service Reservoir, near Craigavon.
With demand increasing, NI Water says this significant investment will increase the output capacity of the pumping station to 115 million litres of water a day – enough water to fill nearly 1.5 million baths – with scope for further expansion.
A new multi-branch cross-connection between Ballydougan, Forked Bridge, and Magheraliskmisk pumping mains will give NI Water the ability to re-route flows during shutdowns or emergencies.
Stephanie McCullagh, director of customer & operations, said: “NI Water’s core function is to produce high quality drinking water in a cost-effective manner to meet the needs of all our customers, both existing and future. Our overall drinking water quality compliance last year was 99.98%, which exceeds regulatory targets.
"Through investments such as this at Castor Bay, we continue to meet the targets placed upon us by our Regulators to comply with water quality standards and will continue to improve the service to all our customers in the future despite working in a challenging environment.”