Irish Water has awarded the contract for the design, construction and commissioning of a new €6.1 million water treatment plant for the North East Roscommon & Ballyleague Regional Water Supply Scheme to Glan Agua.

Construction of the plant is due to begin in early 2016 and is expected to be completed in 2017.

In the interim and until such time as the above plant is completed, Irish Water has completed the installation of a temporary filtration and UV treatment system on the supply. This system will now undergo process proving by Irish Water to enable the BWN to be lifted from this supply. Once the EPA and the HSE are satisfied with standard of the treatment and water supplied they will advise when the boil water notice can be lifted. This is only an interim solution and the proposed €6.1 million water treatment plant is the long-term solution to the problem.

Irish Water has previously invested €2.3 million in a pipeline contract, completed in July 2015 which together with the construction of the Water Treatment Plant will ensure a sustainable and safe supply of drinking water to the communities in NE Roscommon.

Commenting on the signing of the contract, Sean Corrigan, Regional Information Officer at Irish Water said, ‘Irish Water has made it a priority to remove boil water notices for all our customers, especially in Roscommon, where so many people were affected. When Irish Water was first established there were 22,700 people in Roscommon on long-term BWNs and we have brought this number down to 5,400. We have fast-tracked an interim solution and following approval by the HSE and the EPA the BWN will be removed from the water supply of those 5,400 people. Now we are ready to start work on the long-term solution which is a new water treatment plant. Irish Water estimates this will be operational in 2017 providing a safe and secure long-term water supply for North East Roscommon. Irish Water wishes to acknowledge the work of Roscommon County Council in the removal of Boil Water Notices in Roscommon and thank all our Roscommon customers for their patience as we work to resolve this issue.’

Since its foundation, Irish Water has removed long-term boil water notices for 17,300 customers in Roscommon and the lifting of the BWN on the North East Roscommon supply will remove a further 5400 customers, in Co. Roscommon, off long-term BWNs. Some of these customers had been on BWNs since 2009. The €6.1 million investment is part of an overall €26.8 million investment by Irish Water in Roscommon for the provision of a safe and secure water supply to all customers in the county.

The area served by the North East Roscommon Regional Water Supply extends from Roosky in the east to Tulsk in the west and from Drumsna in the north to Ballyleague in the south.