Water Back on in Maple Creek, Boil Water Advisory Still in Place

The Town of Maple Creek has their water back, but they will remain under a boil water advisory.

The Saskatchewan Water Security Agency issued the advisory Thursday morning after a water main break caused the depressurization of the town's water distribution system.

"Town crews have got the water back up and running, we do have water again in Maple Creek, so that's very good news," said Mark Caswell, Chief Administrative Officer for the town, "I just want to say thank you to the crew for working through the night to get this problem addressed, and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for their patience and understanding, it was a little inconvenient to be without water overnight." 

Caswell added the boil water advisory will remain in place to ensure safety of water being consumed.

"Last night, we had a major water line failure, a water line that blew out, and that required an emergency immediate repair.  In order to be able to do it, we had to stop the water flowing through it, and we had to shut down the water system for the entire town."

Full interview with Mark Caswell

Under the provincial Environmental Management and Protection Act 2002, a precautionary drinking water advisory is issued after the depressurization of a municipal water system, since the safety of the water cannot be ensured at all times, and users of the affected water system are asked to boil water that is to be used for drinking or eating.

"Anytime you depressurize your water system, this is a precautionary measure that's taken," Caswell added. "We just ask that people would boil their water that they're going to use for drinking or washing fruits or vegetables or things like that... any water that they might ingest. They won't need to boil their water for bathing or anything like that, it would just be for drinking. You could always drink bottled water, too, if you didn't want to boil your water."

He says it's unknown when exactly the advisory will continue, however he is hopeful that it will be early next week before it's lifted, but asks for the co-operation of residents in the meantime.

"We understand that it's inconvenient, but the town crews are working really hard and they're working as quickly as they can to get the water back on and make sure that it's safe for everyone," Caswell added.