CJWW Radio spoke to Town of Outlook Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Trew late Monday afternoon.
Trew says water in the community of 2400, about an hour south of Saskatoon, was shut off after a routine check by town employees around 9:30 found that the lock on a lid for the distribution station had been broken.
The Saskatchewan Water Security Agency was notified and informed the Town that water in the system needed to be drained as a precaution, just in case it had been tampered with. The draining process was still going on late in this afternoon, but it is hoped that a crew from Saskatoon will be able to start the sanitation process later on Monday evening.
Trew says said it would be at least 12 hours before water service could possibly be restored, which would be 5am Tuesday. The Town of Outlook will provide an update on the situation at 9:30pm Monday on its website as well as Facebook.
Four litres of free bottled water will be available for each resident at the local skating rink this evening. Trew says the sanitary system is still working, but it will require outside water. Limited flushing is being encouraged. One possibility to get additional water is by melting snow.
Town Council has declared a local state of emergency until December 19th. This will allow Outlook to apply to the provincial government for assistance to cover the drainage and sanitization costs.
In addition to the 2400 people in Outlook, between 100 and 400 people in the RM of Rudy also rely on the water supply.
