The £18 million treatment works in the Mournes has been landscaped with local vegetation including over 10,000 native species of heather planted on the roof.

The Minister said: "This innovative new treatment works has been designed to treat over 50 million liters of water a day. This will ensure that over 100,000 consumers across south Down and parts of Armagh served by this facility will receive the highest quality drinking water.

"This is just one example of the scale of investment required to improve water and sewerage infrastructure throughout Northern Ireland. For the five-year period up to 2007-08, some £1.1 billion of capital investment has been made available to upgrade the water and sewerage infrastructure - the challenge is to sustain this investment.

"The introduction of water and sewerage charges will allow this investment to take place to provide a better service for all."

The Minister, along with two school children from St Malachy's Primary School in Kilcoo, planted a tree to mark the completion of the extensive landscaping program involving 6,550 trees.

Commenting on the unique design, the Minister said: "Water Service has successfully integrated what is essentially an industrial building into one of Northern Ireland's most visited regions. The clever underground design allows Water Service to offer a high level of service without compromising on the beauty of the surrounding Mournes landscape."

The new Fofanny facility is able to operate mainly by a gravity system, reducing the need for pumping. To maximize sustainability, a turbine has been installed into the building which creates green energy - 10% of that needed to run the entire plant.

The Fofanny project took first prize in the Achieving Excellence in the Public Sector category of the 2006 Construction Employers Federation/Specify Construction Excellence Awards. The contract was carried out by a joint venture partnership between Earth Tech Engineering Ltd and Farrans (Construction) Ltd. Architectural and landscape design consultants for the project were McAdam Design.

SOURCE: The Northern Ireland Executive