Thousands of householders and businesses in parts of the northeast are without water again today, due to a major burst on a large water main.
Louth County Council and Irish Water said this afternoon the supply of water will be restored by Monday evening at the earliest.
The burst occurred on Friday morning and according to Irish Water works to repair the water main have proven to be more difficult than first anticipated, due to the age and type of pipe.
The burst at the Staleen Water Treatment Plant is located over four metres underground and requires a complex repair.
Thousands of households left without water supply due to burst water mains in northeast pic.twitter.com/dvWl1ctTqu
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) July 23, 2017
The plant supplies drinking water to Drogheda and surrounding areas, as well as parts of south Louth and east Meath, including Ashbourne and Ratoath.
The local authority says a "bespoke engineering solution" is now being attempted and it is estimated that the supply will be restored by Monday evening, at the earliest.
In a statement it said Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda remains supplied with water and the rationing plan for the town has been activated.
Queues for water in Ballsgrove in Drogheda. It's estimated that over 60,000 people are without a water supply in the area and it's surrounds pic.twitter.com/mOSMz42tus
— Sinéad Hussey (@SineadHus) July 23, 2017
Louth County Council and Irish Water say they have supplemented the water supply coming in to Drogheda, by using large tankers to bring treated water in from neighbouring areas such as Collon and Tullyallen.
This water is being delivered directly into the water network to increase the amount available for the rotating water roster, whereby water is rationed to different areas in a planned way.
Louth County Council says this should ensure that all locations have water for certain periods. It is urging consumers to check the roster of locations on the Louth County Council and Irish Water web sites.
More tankers will be employed to deliver water directly to the network at Staleen as they become available and the importing of water will continue until normal service resumes.
Temporary water stations have been set up at the following locations:
- Duleek
- Lagavoreen
- Donore
- Ashbourne
- Stamullen
- Kenstown
- Ardcath
- Ratoath
- Garristown
- Curragha
- Knockcommon
Consumers are reminded to bring clean containers and to boil water taken from these stations before use as a precaution.
Fergus O'Dowd, the Fine Gael TD for the area, has said Irish Water need to treat the issues as an emergency and mobilise all available resources to fix the problem.
