Updated 9pm.
THOUSANDS OF HOMES in Meath that were left without water today have now had their water restored, according to Irish Water.
Up to 10,000 customers were affected by a burst pipe in Navan.
In a statement this evening Irish Water confirmed that the trunk main that feeds water into Navan town has been successfully repaired.
Water is being restored to homes and businesses in north, west and south Navan town and some surrounding areas over the coming hours.
Some 5,000 to 10,000 people were left without water in Navan town, while up to 1,000 homes were impacted at the Shannon Banks, Corbally, County Clare.
The burst pipe was located along the R162 Navan/Kingstown Road at the bottom of Proudstown Hill.
Water tankers deployed
Water tankers were mobilised earlier today and replenished water storage tanks in Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan and Meath Disability Services.
Tankers were also on standby for residential use, but they were not deployed as the outage was under a 24 hour period.
The area impacted in Clare was located near the Limerick border, between the Shannon Banks and Westbury housing estates.
Firefighters alerted to flooding
Firefighters attached to Limerick City Fire Service were first to respond to the burst pipe after they were alerted to flooding in the area late last night.
Firefighters managed to divert millions of litres of water away from homes by using sandbags and pumps, while also opening street drains.
Irish Water says the repair in Clare was relatively “straight forward”. This was the second large burst water mains in Limerick in just two weeks.
In the early hours of 15 July, residents in Bengal Terrace awoke to a river of dirty water flowing through their homes after a large water mains pipe burst.
Today’s disruption comes just a few days after a water shortage problem in Louth and east Meath affected around 70,000 people.
The Defence Forces were called in to assist locals, with Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy stating that it was the biggest problem Irish Water faced to date.
While reports of burst pipes around the country might appear to be more frequent in recent weeks, a spokesperson for Irish Water said it is worth noting that it deals with an average of 1,000 bursts a week around the country.
“Most have minimal customer impact as reservoirs, water in the network and storage in homes and businesses have sufficient water so customers do not experience outages while the repair is being made,” she added.
Additional reporting David Raleigh and Cliódhna Russell.
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