BREAKING: Large water outage in Athlone

A large part of Athlone will be without water after the local water treatment plant was shut down.

Irish Water has now advised people in Athlone that they may experience supply disruptions following a mechanical issue at the water treatment plant.

The water treatment plant is currently shut down and crews are onsite working to resolve the issue as quickly and as safely as possible, it said.

People in the following areas in Coosan will be impacted by water outages while the repairs are ongoing: Assumption Road, Tormey Villas, Old Coosan Road, Coolevin, The Two Mile, Whitebeam Avenue, Coosan Point Road, Hillquarter, Meehanquarter, Beechpark, Bloomfield Drive, Churchhills, Churchfields.

Irish Water and Westmeath County Council are providing water tankers at the following locations from 11.30am today: Coosan Cemetery, Coosan Church, The Bounty, Clonbrusk Primary Care. The public are reminded to use their own containers when taking water from the tankers and to boil water before use as a precautionary measure. Irish Water would also like to remind the public to adhere to all public health advice in relation to social distancing when collecting water from the tankers.

Other areas supplied by the Annagh reservoir are currently dependent on storage levels in the reservoir. Irish Water is appealing to people in the following areas to conserve water where possible to protect the water supply to homes and businesses: Athlone Town, The Ories, Garrycastle, Dublin Road, Ardnaglug, Fardrum, Blyry, Killyon Hill, Bonavalley, Ballymahon road and surrounding areas.

Irish Water and Westmeath County Council apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank people for their patience while we carry out these emergency repairs to safeguard the water supply.

For queries, contact Irish Water directly on their customer care helpline, open 24/7, on 1850 278 278. Updates will be available on the Water Supply Updates section of the Irish Water website and via Twitter @IWCare.