Irish Water is getting ready to start work on four major schemes worth a combined total of €40.8 million.

Last week Irish Water and Donegal County Council marked the start of construction on a €4 million investment by the national utility in a new water treatment plant at Owenteskna in South West Donegal.

The contract was awarded to Coffey Water Ltd last November - work has now commenced on the project and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

David McLoone, Irish Water’s Infrastructure Programme Regional Lead commented:

“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 Remedial Action List.“

The 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 coagulation, flocculation and clarification process, followed by rapid gravity filtration, with UV disinfection added to mitigate against the risk of contamination.

The new plant will ensure compliant water which meets all EU and Irish standards for almost 4,000 consumers.

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

The water company is also shortly due to start work on a major €16.3 million upgrade of wastewater treatment facilities in Enniscorthy.

The project, in partnership with Wexford County Council, is expected to be delivered over a two year period. It will involve the upgrade and expansion of the existing Enniscorthy wastewater treatment plant and the decommissioning of the existing Killagoley wastewater treatment plant along with extensive upgrade work to three pumping stations, construction of a new foul sewer and sewer rehabilitation works.

Enniscorthy is one of 38 locations around Ireland where there is inadequate treatment of wastewater being discharged into waterways.

A joint venture between Ward & Burke Construction Ltd and Response Engineering Limited will carry out the works on behalf of Irish Water.

Mark Murray, Infrastructure Programme Regional Lead with Irish Water said the infrastructure project would address deficiencies with wastewater treatment in Enniscorthy town and the surrounding area.

The work is due to get underway in the coming weeks and, in addition to the upgrade of the treatment plant, will include extensive mechanical and electrical upgrade work to three pumping stations, including the provision of flood measures.

Last week Irish Water started the construction of a €10 million extension of the Lough Mask water supply to Ballinlough and Williamstown Both the Ballinlough and Williamstown water supplies are also on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Remedial Action List. Upon completion of the works the existing Ballinlough and Williamstown water treatment plants will be decommissioned.

Irish Water has appointed BSG Civil Engineering Limited to carry out the works which are on track to be completed in one year.

The works include the construction of over 22 kilometres of new water mains, a new water pumping station at the Ballyhaunis reservoir, and the construction of a new reservoir and control building at the site of the existing Garranlahan water tower near Ballinlough.

The water company is also investing €10.5 million in an upgrade of its Ballyboden Water Treatment Plant. The existing Ballyboden site has an open water reservoir which stores treated drinking water prior to its distribution to customers. The scheme includes the construction of a covered reservoir to store 16 million litres of treated drinking water, the decommissioning of the existing open storage reservoir at the site and work to upgrade the disinfection process at the treatment plant.

Coffey Construction Ltd will start work in the coming weeks. As part of the upgrade the existing reservoir embankments will be retained during the decommissioning of the current open storage reservoir. William McKnight, Asset Delivery Infrastructure Regional Lead at Irish Water said the upgrade to the Ballyboden Water Treatment Plant and Reservoir is a priority project for the water company