IRISH WATER HAS confirmed that a burst has occurred on the pipeline serving the Staleen Water Treatment Plant which provides water to Drogheda and east Meath.

The drinking water reservoir serving these areas has enough water to maintain a supply to customers at present.

However, the utility is urging all customers to conserve water until they have a more accurate timeline for the restoration of the normal water supply.

Irish Water said in a statement: “We will provide a further update in the morning and during tomorrow as the picture becomes clearer.”

A repair crew is currently at the scene to assess the severity of the burst. This one is also close to the location where there was another major burst last year that took considerable time to fix.

Contingency measures will be put in place depending on how it long it takes to fix, although the company said it is hopeful to have it repaired in a shorter timeframe than last year’s burst.

The budget and design for a new pipeline to replace the existing one have already been approved.

Irish Water added: “We are in the final stages of resolving all of the contractual issues to begin mobilisation of construction of this pipeline within weeks.”