Serious water outage in Moate and surrounding areas amid heatwave

Moate and surrounding areas of South Westmeath are currently without a water supply on what's likely to be the hottest day of the year.

The serious water outage began yesterday (Tuesday), with low pressure along the line from Bunbrosna to Moate as a result of a pipe burst.

Local councillor Vinny McCormack told the Westmeath Independent that the pipe burst was fixed, and water pressure began to return to normal in many areas by around 7.30 or 8pm yesterday.

However, a second pipe burst then occurred at Piercefield, Ballynacargy, cutting supplies to Moate, Ballymore, Moyvore, Ballynacargy, Bunbrosna, and parts of Streamstown and Horseleap.

Crews are on site and working to fix the burst. Earlier today, Irish Water anticipated that the work would be completed by 4pm, but in its most recent update, at 4.39pm, it indicated that the fix was taking longer than expected and was now due to be finished by 6.30pm:

The water outage could not have come at a worse time, with an orange level heat warning in place for Westmeath and temperatures expected to reach or exceed 30 degrees Celsius during the day.

A number of businesses in Moate and the other affected areas have had to close as a result of the water outages yesterday and today.

Cllr Tom Farrell said that he and Cllr McCormack had been working to arrange for water tanks to provide some relief to local residents during the outage.

It's understood that two water tanks were to be put in place today outside Moate Community School. Two more were to be located across from the Grand Hotel in Moate, and another tank was due in Ballymore.

"The businesses in Moate are really suffering a lot over this. Some of them are just back in business and for this this to happen, for two days, is just not good for business, especially with the warm weather," Cllr Farrell said.

Cllr McCormack added that pipe bursts had been a regular problem in recent times around Ballynacargy and Bunbrosna.

"It's older lines in that area, and all of the bursts have been happening in that area," he said.

"There is money allocated to upgrade that portion of the line, and the sooner it can happen the better."