Water treatment plants ‘operating at full capacity’

Image: Cllr Ann Marie Donnelly at the over capacity wastewater treatment works in Drumquin. JasMc

RAW waste is being pumped into local waterways following heavy rain at locations throughout the Omagh area, a stark report from Northern Ireland Water (NIW) has revealed.

The terrible state of wastewater treatment works locally was laid bare in the document which highlights how spills are resulting in the internal flooding of homes because of backed-up sewage.

Fermanagh & Omagh District Council has been told that, in the past year alone, incidents of ‘Unsatisfactory Intermittent Discharges’ have happened in Omagh, Dromore, Fintona and Altamuskin.

There is also an ‘increased risk’ of sewer flooding and pollution to the local environment in the Omagh Drainage Area due to significant deficiencies within the sewerage network.

The damning report also highlights how the lack of capacity is resulting in new developments being refused in Beragh, Drumquin, Gortin, Loughmacrory, Mountfield, Seskinore, Sixmilecross, Cavanacaw, Garvaghey, and reduced capacity for new-build homes in Knockmoyle and Tattysallagh.

In addition, NIW has identified capacity issues in the waste water network in parts of Carrickmore and Omagh. It is warning that the problems could result in new planning developments in housing or industry not going ahead.

A special meeting of the council was also told that NIW now faces a massive task in both ‘scope and scale’ to address the problems facing the Waste Water Treatment Works locally.

Dr Stephen Blockwell, from NI Water, blamed the situation ona ‘generational under-investment.’

He explained how, with much of the current network at capacity, combined sewage overflow (CSO) and emergency sewage overflow (ESO) mechanisms were being used to release waste when the network becomes overwhelmed to prevent homes from being flooded with sewage.

“Every part of our infrastructure network, whether it’s a treatment works, a pump, a pipe, has a finite capacity, and most of NI Water’s assets are legacy from decades ago, so much of the capacity that can be handled today is based on legacy assets,” said Dr Blockwell.

“This is why it’s important we have network overflows.

“There are about 780 network overflows on our sewer network, and this is to prevent sewage backing up during heavy rainfall and causing the flooding of homes and businesses with untreated sewage, which of course would cause health issues.”

He also warned that improvements and investments would not happen overnight, even if funding was available, and that NI Water had to concentrate on areas where it would get best value for money.

“It is a reality that for large infrastructure, building assets takes time.

“It takes time to plan to get the right solution, and it takes time to put that solution in place and to do that efficiently,” he added.