Eimco Water Technologies bring benefits to Bushmills

Located within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and lying adjacent to the highly respected River Bush, the project has presented Eimco Water Technologies and its joint venture partners (Duncannon-based GEDA Construction) with the challenge of designing and building a modern new treatment works that will integrate into its surroundings, whilst maintaining consent limits during the construction of a new Activated Sludge Treatment system. Maintaining operation of the existing plant on the same site puts serious space constraints on the project, which is due for completion in September 2010.
At Portballintrae (approx 3km away), also one of Northern Ireland’s most popular tourist destinations, where an existing treatment plant will be decommissioned, a terminal pumping station and pipework will transfer effluent to the new Bushmills facility for treatment before it is discharged to the River Bush. The existing wastewater treatment facility at Portballintrae will be refurbished as additional storage capacity for stormwater only.

Demonstrating capabilities to deliver solutions through an integrated solutions team, Eimco Water Technologies have had to show astute planning skills for the utilisation of existing services in order to keep project costs within budget. In addition, every effort is being made to minimise disruption to the public. This includes the vast majority of pipes being laid in agricultural land and no pipe-laying taking place on roads during the busier summer months. The project also includes a requirement for a significant amount of landscaping, including provision of an area for walking and angling at what is one of the region’s most popular rivers for salmon fishing. Special attention being paid to the local landscape, ecology and visual impact of the site has meant ongoing liaison with Northern Ireland Water’s architects, designing and building rural-style buildings with curved roofs and natural stone cladding to complement local architecture.

Phil Burrows, Project Manager for Eimco Water Technologies, commented: “We are having to achieve a consistently high level of treatment (20:30:3(mg/l) BOD:SS:NH4+) for discharge to the River Bush, and allow for the huge fluctuations in population, which in peak season can double to almost 9000pe”.
Dermott McCurdy, Head of Wastewater Capital Procurement (N&E) at Northern Ireland Water added: “The Bushmills and Portballintrae Wastewater Treatment Project is yet another example of NI Water’s commitment to implementing modern sewerage infrastructure and effective treatment processes that will bring about significant environmental benefits for local communities. The new plant will cater for residential and commercial growth to the year 2035”.