Irish Water turns the sod on new €4m Owenteskna Water Treatment Plant with Minister Joe McHugh which will benefit almost 4,000 consumers

Irish Water and Donegal County Council today (Friday, April 28) marked the start of construction on the €4 million investment by the national utility in a new water treatment plant at Owenteskna to benefit almost 4,000 consumers in the South West Donegal area.

David McLoone, Irish Water’s Infrastructure Programme Regional Lead, and the Minister of State for the Diaspora and Overseas Development Aid, Joe McHugh TD turned the sod at the site of the new Owenteskna Water Treatment Plant (WTP) this afternoon.

When completed the new plant will benefit consumers in South West Donegal covering the area west of Killybegs including Kilcar, Carrick and Glencolmcille.

The contract was awarded to Coffey Water Limited on November 14 2016 who will carry out the works on the behalf of Irish Water. Work has now commenced on the project and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

Explaining the need for the works Mr McLoone said: “The scheme is supplied from Lough Nalughraman, an impounded upland source which provides a good quality raw water supply. The lake water receives minimal treatment consisting of screening and disinfection. As a result, the Owenteskna/Kilcar Water Supply scheme is on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Remedial Action List (RAL).”

This contract will see the construction of a state of the art water treatment plant on a new site at Owenteskiny Townland, Carrick, in the vicinity of the existing disinfection house. The new treatment plant will comprise a robust flocculation, coagulation and filtration process, followed by UV disinfection to mitigate against the risk of contamination.

Commenting at today’s sod-turning event Minister McHugh added: “This new treatment plant will greatly benefit the future economic and population development of the South West area of Donegal. The new plant will ensure compliant water which meets all EU and Irish standards for almost 4,000 consumers and we look forward to returning here for the official opening of this plant and the scheme’s removal from the EPA’s RAL.”

The new treatment plant has a design output of two million litres per day and the contract also includes for treated water storage at the treatment plant and for source protection works and access improvements to the source.

The project is being delivered in partnership with Donegal County Council and when completed and tested, this contract will enable this water supply to be removed from the EPA’s RAL and will ensure consumers will receive a reliable supply of high quality drinking water.

This project forms part of the major investment of €73 million committed by Irish Water to water supply projects in Co Donegal and forms part of Irish Water’s investment plan where works have been prioritised to address the most critical issues in line with commitments outlined in Irish Water’s business plan. Delivery of the business plan will involve a €5.5bn investment in capital spending on drinking water and wastewater quality and capacity and new infrastructure up to 2021.

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