Introduction

The population of Mullingar has increased steadily over the last 20 years and is now home to some 20,000 people. Given that this trend is set to continue, and to have the necessary infrastructure in place when the economy picks up, Westmeath County Council have recently upgraded and expanded the waste water treatment plant and augmented the sewerage network within the town through the implementation of the Mullingar Sewerage Improvement Scheme.

The investment in important infrastructure such as the Mullingar Sewerage Improvement Scheme plays an important part in promoting Mullingar's status as a Gateway Town as designated in the National Spatial Strategy.

The key features of the Mullingar Sewerage Improvement Scheme were the upgrading and extension of the existing waste water treatment plant, the upgrading/ upsizing, where necessary, of the existing sewer pipes for Mullingar and environs with the purpose of, and to allow for, future development of Mullingar and environs.

The Mullingar Sewerage Improvement Scheme consisted of three important components as follows:

  • Design Build and Operate (DBO) Contract for the upgrading and extension of the existing waste water treatment plant at Clonmore, and construction of a new sewage pumping station at Lynn Road
  • The construction of an interceptor sewer to intercept spills from existing combined sewer overflows, and to relieve overloading of existing sewers
  • The third component of the Scheme is the replacement of hydraulically and structurally deficient combined sewers in the existing sewer system, and the construction of sewers in outlying areas to cater for future development. This work will be carried out as a future contract

Two unique contracts were awarded to upgrade the Town's waste water treatment plant and the sewer network.