NI Water is progressing work on a £13 million upgrade to improve the security of the water supply at Drumaroad Water Treatment Works.

The new water storage tank will serve the existing Drumaroad Water Pumping Station and Chapel Hill Water Pumping Station to supply treated water onwards to the distribution areas. An additional Pumping Station will also be constructed to transfer flows outside of normal operating conditions.

Mark Richardson, NI Water’s Project Manager said:

“We are delighted that this major investment at Drumaroad is progressing well and is on schedule to be completed in Autumn this year. The project will bring many improvements to our customers, including improved security of the local water supply.

“The upgrade involves the construction of a new water storage tank, which, once operational will have a capacity of over 35 million litres, providing additional water supply to customers, particularly during emergency situations.”

GRAHAM is the main contractor for the project, with RPS providing project management and technical support.

The water company described the investment work at Drumaroad as an excellent example of what can be done when the necessary funding is in place, commenting:

"While chronic underfunding of NI Water is an urgent issue, we are working hard at a local level to find solutions to enable Councils and developers to progress their vision and facilitate future economic development.

"The message is clear, NI Water is ready to provide engineering solutions to short-term constraints where possible, however we must face the inescapable reality that the full funding identified by the Utility Regulator in its Final Determination (PC21 business plan) is required to fulfil the vision of economic expansion for our towns and cities."

"NI Water welcomes the recent confirmation by the Executive that funding for year 1 of our business plan has been secured. We see this positive funding position at the outset of the six year programme as a statement of intent and look forward to the necessary funding being put in place across the six year period to 2027."

"This is not a ‘wish list’ or a ‘nice to have’; this is the plan that will help us ensure NI Water can deliver in a strong, modern regional economy."

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon added:

“This £13 million upgrade highlights the impact investment in our infrastructure can have. This major plant treats water from the Silent Valley reservoir which delivers around 140 million litres of water every day to over 200,000 homes in County Down and Belfast.

“Once complete this will have a positive impact on the lives of up to 540,000 people, a quarter of the Northern Ireland population, who can benefit from increased resilience and security of the water supply. This will make a real difference to people’s daily lives.”