Aquarius 3: Mourne Water Treatment Works

Project

The design, construction, commissioning and operational management of a water treatment works capable of treating 155 megalitres of raw water per day, providing potable water to more than 280,000 customers around Belfast in accordance with stringent new EU Drinking Water Directives.
The works, adjacent to Castlewellan, are Northern Ireland’s largest greenfield water treatment works and treat raw water by flocculation followed by diffused air floatation (DAF), filtration and chemical dosing.
Faithful+Gould was appointed as cost managers for this £24 million project.

The project was delivered using a teamwork approach which encouraged the active involvement of all parties. Team members from all the various stakeholders were able to access current information via an extranet which encouraged exchange of ideas and allowed early decision making.
The monitoring and control of costs was undertaken by open book assessment of actual costs with frequent audits, reviews and forecasts.
The project was a demonstration project for the Movement for Innovation and pioneered Value Stream Analysis which measured performance and focused on the efficiency of processes used to deliver the works and minimisation of waste of resources and materials.

To deliver a sophisticated technical process within buildings which must compliment its rural setting within budgetary constraints and to meet regulatory timescales.

The partnership approach to the delivery of the works and the innovation of utilising Value Stream Analysis were significant factors in the success of the project.
Although there were significant changes to the scope of the works, including the addition of new service and command reservoirs, the project was delivered within budget and on programme. Both the employer and the contractor benefited from a share of the considerable cost saving made against the contract target cost.