Longford businessman forced to send staff home due to water outage

Mike Winters, from long established insurance broker Abbey Murphy, hit out at Irish Water and said he had been left with no option but to cease operations due to the outage.

"I have nine or ten staff here and I can't have them in with no water," he said, as he called on the public utility to come clean on the reason behind the stoppage.

"Why won't they (Irish Water) tell us the truth?" he asked.

For their part, Irish Water issued a statement this morning to confirm an electrical fault had been identified on its Lough Forbes treatment plant and warned households both in and outside of Longford town that disruptions were likely over the course of the day.

"Irish Water and Longford County Council wish to advise customers supplied by Lough Forbes water treatment plant that they may experience disruption to their supply as there is an electrical fault at the treatment plant," read the statement.

"Customers in the following mid-Longford locations may be experiencing water outages; Edgeworthstown; Newtownforbes; Longford Town; Drumlish; Ballinalee; Clondra and all surrounding areas in between.

"Irish Water and Longford County Council understands the inconvenience when an outage occurs and thanks customers for their patience while emergency repair works are carried out.

The utility's customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1850 278 278 and customers can also contact us on Twitter @IWCare with any queries.  For updates, go to the water supply and services section of Irish Water's website for more details.