Water supply under pressure in areas of Westmeath due to increased demand

Published: Sat 3 Mar 2018, 2:48 PM

Last updated: Sat 3 Mar 2018, 2:52 PM

• Customers in Athlone, Mullingar, Moate, Kilbeggan, Tyrrellspass, Rochfortbridge, Castletown Geoghegan, Kinnegad, Castlepollard, Delvin and Clonmellon are being asked to conserve water

• Water restrictions will be in place in the Cossan Area, Assumption Road, Beechpark and Clonbursk areas tonight from 11pm to 8am on Sunday, 4 March

Irish Water is advising customers in Westmeath that due to the extremely cold weather conditions and exceptionally high water demand, some water treatment plants in the county are struggling to keep up with supply demands.

Customers are being asked to conserve water to avoid reservoirs emptying and water pressure to homes and businesses being affected.

Customers in Athlone, Mullingar, Moate, Kilbeggan, Tyrrellspass, Rochfortbridge, Castletown Geoghegan, Kinnegad, Castlepollard, Delvin and Clonmellon are particularly being asked to conserve water.

High night time demand in Athlone has resulted in the water level in the Annagh Reservoir dropping.

As a result water will not be pumped to the Coosan Area and the Batteries Water Tower tonight.

Customers in the Coosan Area, Assumption Road, Beechpark, and Clonbrusk will experience water restrictions over the night from 11pm on Saturday 3 March to 8am on Sunday 4 March to help replenish the reservoir levels.

Customers on the west side of Athlone town are not expected to experience water loss but may have reduced pressure.

Repairs will be carried out on leaks in the public network in Athlone on Church Street and Cornamagh tomorrow and on Monday as weather and ground conditions improve.

Reservoir levels in Castlepollard, Delvin and Clonmellon and in Mullingar are critically low due to high water demand and high turbidity in the raw water sources.

Work is continuing to meet the water demand to supply homes and businesses and further updates will be provided throughout the day.

Customers throughout Westmeath are urged to conserve water by not running taps unnecessarily, taking showers instead of baths and to refrain from using dishwashers and washing machines.

Irish Water, working in partnership with Westmeath County Council, thanks customers for their patience while they work to resolve all issues due to the extremely cold weather conditions and would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused.

They wish to reassure customers that work and repairs are ongoing and are being completed as soon as it is safe to do so.

Once further information is available we will issue another update.

Updates will also be posted to the supply and service section of Irish Water’s website at www.water.ie/water-supply/supply-and-service-update/.

Customers can contact the call centre 24/7 on 1850 278 278 or on Twitter @IWCare.

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County Westmeath is beginning to recover from the substantial snowfalls of the past few days. However, many regional and local roads are still impassable due to snow drifts and people are strongly advised not to travel on roads unless they have definite information that the road is passable.

The council mobilised snowploughs, excavators and other equipment yesterday and this morning to clear snow drifts and all National Primary (N4) and Secondary Roads (N51, N52, N55, N62) are now passable with extreme care. The following Regional Routes are passable with extreme care:

R148 - Coralstown to Kinnegad
R390 - Mullingar to Athlone
R392 - Mullingar to Longford County Boundary
R444 – Moate to Ballinahown
R446 - Athlone to Kinnegad

All other regional roads are currently impassable.

The main arteries in and around Mullingar and Athlone are passable and Council crews, assisted by army personnel have been clearing footpaths in both towns since 8am this morning.

Given the scale of the challenge facing the County, the assistance of the public in terms of clearing snow from footpaths and roads in their local areas would be extremely helpful. This could include the use of appropriate equipment such as tractors with loaders, and people who assist are requested to clear snow safely and to avoid creating any additional hazards.

The public are also requested to conserve water, as these conditions place additional demands on the water services infrastructure.

Westmeath County Council will resume normal business on Monday, 5th March 2018 and it is intended that all public facilities would be reopen at their usual time.
If you require assistance from Westmeath County Council please call the Council’s main telephone number: (044) 9332000.

Please see www.winterready.ie for further advice, and keep up to date with national and local advice through the relevant media channels.