Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmons has outlined plans for better water and wastewater treatment throughout the country.

A top priority for Minister Kimmons is the need to modernise Northern Ireland's ageing wastewater system, with funding, innovative thinking and working in partnership holding the key to tackling this issue.

Minister Kimmons highlighted plans in the Assembly following an introductory meeting with NI Water, which addressed numerous challenges and topics.

The Minister said: "Later this year, I will be introducing a Water, Flooding and Sustainable Drainage Bill to the Assembly. We need to look to nature itself and integrate nature-based solutions into our water and wastewater management if we are to future-proof the system.

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"This will help improve the water quality of our rivers and loughs; help improve the performance of our sewerage systems; provide electricity cost saving opportunities for pumping and treating wastewater; reduce the volume of storm overflows into waterways; and help to reduce the risk of flooding."

Minister Kimmons continued: "In terms of funding, NI Water was recently allocated an additional £19.5million, to unlock wastewater capacity enabling 2,300 new homes to be built and connected in Antrim, Derry and Tyrone. 

"This is part of their £0.5billion allocation for this year, which is just under 40% of the total non-ring-fenced budget available for my entire Department. I will continue to work with Executive colleagues to further increase wastewater investment.

"There is no quick fix or easy solution, which is why innovative thinking and collaborative working are so important. That is why I am exploring options for developer contributions, and I have also tasked my officials to work at a strategic level with the Department for Communities and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to establish better ways of working together to increase housing provision."

The Minister added: "It was also heartening to read recently that construction here is at the highest it's been in 15 years; and that surveyors' expectations for overall construction workloads in the north are more positive than seen previously."