FLI Environmental hopes to cash in on a projected €4 billion spend on water treatment with the purchase of a British group from State company Bord na Móna.

The Waterford-based environmental services specialist said yesterday it has agreed to buy Brightwater Engineering and Brightwater Products and Services from Bord na Móna for €5 million.

Along with the two companies, FLI is also buying Brightwater's own water filtering technology and is licensing Bord na Móna to supply these products to markets in North and Central America.

FLI's founder and managing director, Michael Flynn, said yesterday that €4 billion will be invested in the Republic's municipal waste-water treatment facilities over the next few years.

"FLI, with a very strong in-house engineering capability, is well placed to become a major player in this sector," he said.

Brightwater employs 60 people at Lechworth and Bedford, which are north of London in England.

The group's technology is used in over 80 per cent of waste-water plants in Britain. It has been in business for over 30 years.

FLI employs 200 people and turns over €43 million a year, a figure it expects to increase to €100 million by 2010.

It has businesses in France and Britain and is currently working on a €10 million contract to build an environmental containment facility at the world's biggest nickel mine on the Pacific Island of New Caledonia.

Its core businesses include engineered landfills, leachate and gas management from landfills and waste-to-energy technology.