Athlone people will have to rely on bottled water again.

Another water outage to hit Athlone this evening

Irish Water has announced that homes and businesses in the centre and east of Athlone will be affected by another water outage from 8pm this evening (Thursday). 

The supply cut - which is scheduled to last until 9am tomorrow (Friday) morning - is due to maintenance work being carried out on the Annagh reservoir in the town. 

Irish Water said the impact would be felt from the town centre as far as Mount Temple. Its list of the areas to be affected is as follows: Athlone town, Baylin, Mount Temple and the Ories, Garrycastle, Dublin Road, Ardnaglug, Fardrum, Moydrum, Blyry, Killyon Hill, Bonavalley and surrounding areas in Westmeath.

The utility said that it could take "a number of hours" before water returns in all of the affected areas tomorrow morning. 

It's also asking people to "conserve water for the foreseeable future" due to increased demand and lower water levels in the Annagh reservoir. 

"The current dry spell and increased seasonal demand are contributing to the reduced available supply of treated drinking water," said the statement from Irish Water. 

"In an effort to minimise potential interruptions, customers are being asked to conserve water by refraining from watering gardens, washing cars, using power hoses and minimising their use generally."

Customers who are aware of leaks to the public water supply network are being asked to report them online at www.water.ie or by calling the Irish Water customer care helpline on 1850 278 278.