Irish Water has marked the official opening of the Gorey-Courtown Wastewater Treatment Plant with a ceremony attended by Paul Kehoe TD, Minister for State at the Departments of the Taoiseach and Defence with special responsibility for Defence, at Courtown, Co. Wexford.

The €7.2 million investment, which began in September 2014, has delivered an enhanced treatment plant with the capacity to treat all waste water from both Courtown and Gorey to the proper standard.

Speaking at the official opening, Minister Kehoe said:

 “I am delighted to mark the official completion of all work on the Gorey-Courtown wastewater treatment plant. The town of Gorey and surrounding areas such as Courtown have been subject to significant growth in recent years and this marks a critical investment by Irish Water in essential wastewater infrastructure in Co. Wexford.”

Before the completion of this Irish Water project, the previous wastewater treatment plant serving Gorey and Courtown was overloaded and unable to meet the required treatment standards or capacity required. The project has now extended the capacity of the existing Courtown Wastewater Treatment Plant from 12,000 to 35,000 PE (population equivalent). Waste water from Gorey is now pumped to the treatment plant at Courtown, and the old Gorey treatment plant has now been decommissioned. Existing buildings at Gorey are being converted to provide screening and storm water storage.

Commenting at the event, Paul Fallon, Wastewater Capital Programme Lead, Irish Water said:

“This is one of the many projects being progressed by Irish Water to support the tourism industry and future development in Co. Wexford. Already €10 million have been invested on this and the Taghmon waste water treatment schemes, and a further €32 million will be spent on wastewater projects and €21.5 million on drinking water projects over the coming years.”

The project has been delivered in partnership with Wexford Co. Co and the works have been procured under a Design Build Operate (DBO) contract with the construction carried out by a joint venture between AECOM and SIAC and engineering services provided by Ryan Hanley Consulting Engineers.

The project forms part of Irish Water’s investment plan where over €530 million will be invested in upgrading services in 2016 to improve the country’s water and wastewater infrastructure. The Irish Water Business Plan has earmarked almost €2 billion in improving wastewater quality and capacity up to 2021.