Date: 26 March 2007
Civil Engineering students and staff from Queen’s University, Belfast recently took part in an educational site visit of Water Service’s new wastewater treatment facility, currently being built in Donaghadee.
Appointed by Water Service, Glen Water Ltd, a joint venture between two of the leading names in the UK and international water and construction industry, Thames Water and Laing O’Rourke, is currently constructing the new state-of-the-art Wastewater Treatment Works and three new pumping stations for the North Down/Ards area.
The students and lecturers were invited to tour the site to learn more about the civil engineering aspects of the project and the innovative techniques Glen Water is using to complete the facility on time and within budget.
“This is our signature project for Northern Ireland, and we have invested a lot of time and effort in developing and constructing a new facility that will rival some of the best wastewater treatment facilities in Europe,” said Jim Conlon, Glen Water’s General Manager.
“By asking local students to come down and see, at first hand, what we are building we are giving them a detailed insight into the project’s engineering challenges and what we are doing to overcome them,” he continued.
As part of the visit the students and lecturers from the School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering at QUB were given the opportunity to visit the new pumping stations currently under construction at Millisle, Briggs Rock and Donaghadee.
“We very much appreciated the fact that Glen Water’s senior management team took time out of their busy schedules to personally give us a guided tour of the construction site,” said Dermot Skinnader, President of QUB’s Engineering Society.
“It is not every day that you get to visit a project of this size and scale up close and we found it to be of tremendous benefit. Seeing how Glen Water is overcoming some of the unique logistical challenges of the project was very interesting,” he continued.
Designed to help Northern Ireland meet stringent EU regulations on wastewater treatment, the new Works will also help safeguard the marine environment along the North Down/Ards coastline.
Upon completion at the end of 2007 the facility will blend in with surrounding environment and greatly enhance the quality of local bathing water.
Photo Caption: Pictured (l-r) are Jim Conlon General Manager, Glen Water, Peter Dew, Laing O'Rourke, Ciara Mulholliand, from Armagh and Dermot Skinnader, President of the QUBES.