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Major burst on the Staleen to Windmill Hill trunk watermain successfully repaired

18 June 2023

Information below is relevant until further updates are provided here or on our Supply and Service Updates section.

To help reservoir levels recover, night-time restrictions will be in place, Sunday 18 of June from 10pm until 6am

Uisce Éireann and Meath County Council (MCC) have successfully completed emergency repairs following a major burst on the Staleen to Windmill Hill trunk watermain. Following reports of outages yesterday, expert MCC water services crews were immediately dispatched to find and fix the burst and every effort was made to reduce the impact on homes and businesses and restore water supply as quickly as possible. 

Impacted areas included: Ashbourne Town,  New Town, Cabinhill, Ballybin, Raystown, Crakenstown, Ratoath, Cheeverstown, Fleenstown Little, Priest Town, Belgree, Harlockstown, Mullinam, Folistown, Ballymacarney, Loughlinstown, Blackwater, Sutherland, Warrenstown, Piercetown, Ballybin, Lagore Little, Kilrue, Gormanstown, Grange, Fidorfe, Ratoath Manor, Glascarn, Ballyhack, Paddock, Peacockstown, Tankardstown, Jamestown, Brownstown, Legagunnia, Commons, Killester, Crickstown, Doghtog, Ennistown, Fleenstown Great, Twentypark, Muckerstown, Balfestown, Baltrasna, Painestown, Colvinstown, Macetown, Rathfeigh, Cookstown, Skreen, Slanestown, Obertstown, Proudstown, Edoxtown, Kilmoon, Collierstown and surrounding areas in Co. Meath.

Following the repairs, it may take several hours for normal water supply to return to all customers served by the East Meath Water Supply Scheme due to the size of the network, especially for those on higher ground or at the end of the impacted network. Further updates will be provided as the network recharges.

To help reservoir levels recover it will be necessary for night-time restrictions to be in place tonight, Sunday 18 of June from 10pm until 6am tomorrow morning. This is to ensure a continued supply of water during the day for homes and businesses.

To further support customers, alternative water supplies have been arranged in key locations including: 

  • Ratoath – The Avenue, Ratoath and Donnelly’s Builders Providers carpark and Fox Lodge.
  • Ashbourne – Tudor Grove (Green Area), Ashbourne Community Centre and Race Hill.

Stephen Burke, Uisce Éireann, commented: “We understand how disruptive unplanned outages are for local communities and would like to thank all impacted customers across Ratoath for their patience while crews worked on repairs. 

Stephen added: “I would like to thank the specialist water services crews in Meath County Council for their dedication and expertise and for working throughout the night to limit the impact on customers and successfully complete the repairs. In addition, thanks to the residents, businesses and Elected Representatives in the area for sharing our updates and for their patience and understanding as we worked through the night on the repairs.”

Uisce Éireann acknowledges that there have been a frequent number of water supply disruptions in this area and to reduce the disruptions in the longer term, a project to replace over 7km of water mains that are prone to frequent bursts and outages is progressing and expected to be completed by the end of the year. The old water mains are being replaced by larger, modern, more resilient pipes which will also address low water pressure particularly for customers in Ratoath during periods of peak demand. The project also involves the construction of a new, state-of-the-art, elevated 4.7 million litre treated water storage reservoir and secondary disinfection system, adjacent to the existing Windmill Hill Reservoir.

Following this type of work, occasionally issues such as cloudy water (air bubbles), discolouration or internal airlocks may arise. For advice on how to resolve these issues, please visit our after an outage section. The Uisce Éireann customer care helpline is also open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 and customers can also contact us on Twitter @IWCare with any queries. Uisce Éireann regrets any inconvenience caused by this disruption.