Saskatchewan town told not to use water, police investigate tampered reservoir hatch

A town in Saskatchewan is advising residents not to use municipal water after it was determined a hatch to one of its reservoirs had been tampered with, prompting an investigation by RCMP.

Shawn Jaques, president and CEO of the Water Security Agency (WSA) for Saskatchewan, told Global News the “do not use” advisory was issued because officials cannot simply test the reservoir water in Outlook to ensure safety.

“To make sure that the water supply for residents is safe, the protocol is that the reservoirs are drained and then they’re cleaned and then refilled and retested to make sure the water is safe,” he said.

The advisory began Monday at 9:30 a.m. local time and will remain in place until the water supply is determined to be completely safe.

According to a notice from the Town of Outlook on Monday, crews had completed sanitizing the well and town staff were continuing to drain the reservoirs of the compromised water.

Jaques said the WSA is working closely with the town and said Tuesday that he expected cleaning of the reservoirs to be completed soon.

He added it is up to the town to ensure residents have water in the interim, but he expects that over the next “day or so,” the reservoirs should be running again.

Saskatchewan RCMP confirmed to Global News that they received a call at about 2 p.m. on Monday about a report of mischief at the water facility on Railway Avenue.

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Police say they determined an unknown person or people broke a lock to the treated reservoir, likely in the early morning hours of Monday.

“Outlook RCMP continue to investigate. It has not been determined whether the suspect or suspects entered the outbuilding, or that anything was stolen or tampered with,” RCMP said in an email.

The WSA is also advising residents that, in addition to not using the tap water due to potential contamination, people should also not try to treat the water themselves.

“Boiling, freezing, filtering, adding chlorine or other disinfectants, or letting the water stand will not make the water safe,” a notice from the agency said.

Four-litre jugs of water began to be given out at the Jim Kook Recreation Complex starting at 10 a.m., with a limit of one per household.

— with files from Global News’ Chris Vandenbreekel