Wastewater treatment scheme on schedule

L-R: Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy, Bill Gowdy, NI Water Director of Engineering Procurement and Sara Venning Chief Executive of NI Water

The £1.3m project by NI Water will deliver what will be Northern Ireland’s first Integrated Constructed Wetland (ICW) fully sustainable method of treating wastewater.

Construction work got underway in April this year on the innovative and environmentally friendly wetland site where wastewater is cleaned using a natural process.

ICWs are designed, built and operated through human technology and are based on processes that occur naturally within indigenous wetlands providing an environment where the plants such as Glyceria Maxima and Typha Latifolia themselves clean the water.

Mr Kennedy said: “I am impressed with the progress on this sustainable new approach to wastewater treatment. The current treatment works in Stoneyford is nearing the end of its useful life and the new replacement ICW will be a flagship project for NI Water and an industry-leading example of how wastewater treatment can be integrated into and complement a local indigenous ecosystem.

“The ICW approach has been developed on natural treatment processes. This is the first time that this innovative solution has been used for municipal purposes in Northern Ireland. This is an important step towards the development of more environmentally-sustainable water treatment solutions.”

The ICW method has an established record in Europe of providing a low cost, low energy and low maintenance alternative to mechanical wastewater treatment.

NI Water believes that this natural environmentally-friendly solution is particularly suited to rural areas and aims to accommodate the future development needs of Stoneyford, while promoting flora and fauna in a natural ecosystem. Customer queries should be directed to Waterline on 08457 440088, quoting “BSG Civil Engineering - Stoneyford ICW”.