Water outage tonight will affect 8,000 people in Athlone

Some 8,000 people on the east side of Athlone are to have their water supply shut off tonight (Thursday).

Irish Water said the outage is being caused by a mechanical fault at the town's water treatment plant. 

The water outage is due to take place from 10pm tonight until 6am tomorrow (Friday). 

Irish Water supplied the following list of areas that will be affected: The east side of Athlone town, Baylin, Mount Temple, The Ories, Garrycastle, Dublin Road, Ardnaglug, Fardrum, Moydrum, Blyry, Killyon Hill, Bonavalley and surrounding areas. 

A spokesperson for Irish Water said a crew was on site to assess the issue in the treatment plant. 

It was added that the interruption to the water supply was being timed "to ensure that there is an adequate quantity of treated water in the reservoir to supply industries, schools, residences and commercial activities during business hours."