Northern Ireland approve wetland for wastewater treatment

Planning approval has been granted for a new Integrated Constructed Wetland outside of Stoneyford village, Northern Ireland. The project will create the first Wetland of this sort in Northern Ireland, which will serve to clean water through natural processes.

Developed by Northern Ireland Water, the project will ultimately replace the wastewater treatment facility that is currently in use in the area. In a break away from chemical methods of cleaning water, the Wetland will make use of processes that occur naturally. Just as with indigenous wetlands, the project will clean the water through the plants that grow throughout the area.

The wastewater treatment facility is now nearing the end of its use and so the announcement of the new scheme has been widely welcomed by people in the area. Work on the site started this week (April 14th) and is set to continue throughout the rest of the year.

Councillor Uel Mackin, chairman of the planning committee, has welcomed the project. “For some considerable time housing development in Stoneyford has been restricted, due to an inadequate sewage facility.  This provision, which is to be welcomed, will now make available greater opportunities to develop the housing stock in the area.  There were considerable concerns among local residents as to the impact this Wetlands facility would have in the area, but following a visit to a wetlands site in Monaghan, these fears were allayed," he said.

Vice chairman, Alderman Tinsey, applauded the project, which will help to provide a new form of wastewater treatment facility while also helping to improve the aesthetics of the area by enhancing the landscape. The new Wetland project will also help Stoneyford to develop in the future by meeting the sewage needs of the area.

“This is a first for Northern Ireland and really shows how Lisburn is at the forefront with new service provision in the local city area. The project is based on the Integrated Construction Wetland approach pioneered by the National Parks and Wildlife Service from the Department of the Environment," he continued.