A BURST water main left thousands of homes, hotels, restaurants and factories in Waterford city without supplies yesterday.
County Council and Corporation engineers worked throughout yesterday and overnight to repair the pipe at the Adamstown treatment plant in the village of Kilmeaden, which supplies all the city's water.
They hoped to have the main fixed by this morning. In the meantime emergency water supplies were brought in by tanker.
The water main, the largest in the local network, fractured during the early hours yesterday.
Repair crews were called out immediately and council workers started to divert untreated water from the reservoir at Ballyshunnock into the city.
Most people in Waterford did not realise there was a problem until their domestic water tanks ran dry. Supplies were maintained to some houses in areas also served by the water main which supplies Waterford Regional Hospital.
The corporation kept it supplied as its priority.
However, in a city which uses over four million gallons of water a day, the problem steadily worsened yesterday evening.
The Tower Hotel, which is hosting 350 delegates attending the Communications Workers' Union annual conference, had to close its leisure centre due to the shortage.
The general manager of the hotel, Ms Madge Barry, said it was running out of water but hoped to get some from a tanker to keep it going through the night.
Yesterday evening, a tanker containing 2,000 gallons of water arrived in the city from Kilkenny and the local fire service spent the night distributing it.
Last night, the corporation was planning to share supplies of water around the city so that areas which had received nothing during the day would at least have some water for the night.
The city engineer, Mr Tom Mackey, said it was vital that people conserve as much water as possible.
He added that those with some supply should boil the water, as it was not being treated.
Supplies to factories at the city's industrial estate dried up during the day. However, many had stocked up in the morning when they became aware of the problem.
It will be some time before supplies return to normal after the main is repaired. Water pressure has to be restored gradually to avoid further fractures. With treated and untreated water mixing in the city's reservoir, householders will still have to boil their water for several days yet.
A corporation spokesman acknowledged last night that the break had caused "a major problem", but added that corporation staff would be working throughout the night to ensure that supplies returned as soon as possible.