A £2 million investment at Lough Island Reavy Reservoir in Kilcoo, County Down, has successfully been completed, NI Water has announced.

BSG Civil Engineering was the contractor for the project that involved the replacement of the overflow spillway, which ensures the safety of the reservoir, especially during periods of heavy rainfall. Meanwhile, AECOM offered project management support with the wider NI Water project team also contributing to the completion of works.

There are two Pumping Stations on site, which serve Drumaroad and Fofanny Water Treatment Works (WTW). The completed programme of works will ensure increased supply and support to the Pumping Station which serves Drumaroad WTW, which supplies water to customers in County Down and Belfast.

In times of high-water demand, the water supply from the reservoir limits the flow to both Water Treatment Works. However, this completed scheme will now ensure supply to both plants is not restricted, benefitting customers in emergency situations such as a high demand water incident.

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Discussing the project, Mark Richardson, NI Water Senior Project Manager, said: "NI Water is committed to the highest standards of reservoir safety and management and we are delighted to confirm that this major programme of maintenance and refurbishment work to help future-proof Lough Island Reavy impounding reservoir is complete. The reservoir plays a critical role in the storage of raw water to ensure continuity of the future supply to our customers. 

"The work at this site is part of an overall programme of work, which involves improvements at 36 key reservoirs across the province, which are essential to maintain water supply. The improvement work will also ensure compliance with important reservoir safety legislation.

"Security of supply is key and the completed improvements will be particularly important to deliver additional water to our customers during a high demand or other extreme weather emergency situation."

The overall programme of reservoir improvements will enhance components of the reservoirs, including refurbishment of control valves, installation of drainage, repairs to spillway structures and improvements to monitoring equipment - to ensure the safe and appropriate management of the reservoirs. This ensures that the safety of these significant structures is maintained.