Outlook, Sask. residents asked not to use water, local state of emergency declared after tampering

The town of Outlook has shut down its water distribution after a staff member discovered the hatch to its distribution reservoir had been tampered with on Monday morning.

“That indicates that our water supply had been compromised,” said Outlook’s chief administrative officer, Kevin Trew.

The town, 77 kms south of Saskatoon, has declared a local state of emergency.

Trew said the shutdown leaves approximately 2,500 people without water, including some residents of the neighbouring rural municipality of Rudy.

Residents are being told to not use tap water “for any purposes” until further notice and to only use bottled water.

Trew said officials immediately reported the tampering incident to the RCMP and the Water Security Agency, which manages Saskatchewan’s water resources.

“We don’t know for certain that nothing was added into our treated water,” Trew said.

Therefore, under the Water Security Agency’s protocols, “it’s compromised,” he said.

A notice from the WSA says residents are warned against trying to treat tap water themselves.

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

Trew said the distribution reservoir site is regularly checked and while officials don’t know exactly when the tampering occurred, they suspect it was on Sunday. The hatch tampering was discovered at 9:30 a.m. CST on Monday.

He said the local state of emergency will allow the town to access resources outside the community and is not because local authorities can’t handle the situation.

The town is disposing of the possibly contaminated water before it can sanitize the reservoirs and then treat new water and flush the system to ensure water is safe for consumption.

The local state of emergency is expected to run until Dec. 19, as the town has been advised it should give four days for this process.

“It may be rescinded earlier, however we can't anticipate that at this time,” Trew said.

Free bottled water is available at the skating rink, he said.

Updates will be provided on the town’s social media pages and officials are going door-to-door to advise residents of the water advisory.