Launderette's third day without water due to Athlone works

An Athlone launderette is enduring a third consecutive day of having no proper water supply due to works taking place on Castlemaine Street.

Irish Water came in for strong criticism after it gave traders little or no notice before shutting down half of the street this week. 

The east-bound lane of Castlemaine Street has been closed since Monday morning to allow for watermain works.

Donna Ryan of Athlone Laundry Services, which is located on the street, said she was given notice earlier this week that her water supply would be cut off all day on Wednesday. 

However, the water supply to her business actually went off on Tuesday, and when she contacted the Westmeath Independent this afternoon (Thursday) it still hadn't been restored. 

"I'm trying to remain calm, but this is mad," said Donna.

"I have five tanks and four are water-harvesting so the only reason I was able to turn on a machine earlier was because it rained a bit."

She said some water had been pumped into her business by Irish Water during the disruption, but she still hasn't been told when the regular mains supply will be restored. 

As a result of the disruption, she said she had a backlog of laundry that was continuing to grow. 

In a statement on Tuesday, Irish Water said the lane closure on Castlemaine Street would remain in place until tomorrow (Friday, September 13).

John Croughan of Croughan's Centra said he knew nothing about the works until Monday morning when workers arrived and started putting down bollards to close off half the street.

"I thought they were only messing when they told me they were closing the street, but they were actually serious," said Mr Croughan.

The closure means motorists can't pull in and out at the front of the Centra shop, and trade has been hit as a result. On Monday afternoon, he said business was down by about 80% that day.

"Nobody (in a car) can get in to us," he said. "I have 17 staff here, we start at 6.30 in the morning, until 10 o’clock at night.

"There’s deliveries coming. There’s food cooked, and it’s just sitting there so it’s going to end up going in the bin.

"If we had known this was happening we could have kept a skeleton staff, or reduced the hours, but I didn’t know about it."

Another trader on the street, Eamon Ó Dálaigh of Midland Sound Equipment, said he got a text message telling him about water supply disruption on Wednesday but he received no written or verbal notification of the roadworks on the street.

After being contacted by the Westmeath Independent, Irish Water spokesperson Gavin Nugent issued a statement on Tuesday indicating that further work of this kind is planed in Athlone in the coming weeks.

"Irish Water are carrying out works (on Castlemaine Street) to place a district meter, under the Find and Fix Programme," said Mr Nugent.

"There is one complete lane closure and access provided on the other lane. On completion of the meter, leak repair works will take place throughout Athlone Town District Metered Area but will be of minimal impact."

Separately, the east side of Athlone town, as far as Mount Temple, is currently being affected by a series of night-time water shut-offs. The disruption for homes and businesses supplied by the Annagh Reservoir is scheduled to continue up to tonight (Thursday).