The Town of Osoyoos, B.C., says one of its water reservoirs has unexpectedly run dry, leading to a boil water advisory being issued on Monday.
According to the town, a “significant instrumentation failure” occurred Sunday night, which caused one of our water reservoirs to run dry and the main water reservoir to drain to critical levels.
An Osoyoos resident sent photos to Global News, showing brown, discoloured water in a sink and a bathroom tub.
The town says the following areas are under a boil water advisory.
Town of Osoyoos
- 115th Street
- Meadowlark Drive
- Wren Place and Drive
- Raven Court
- Finch Crescent
- Swan Crescent
- Sandpiper Place
- Killdeer Place
- Curlew Court
South rural area
- 107th Street
- 42nd Avenue
- 26th Avenue
- 12th Avenue
- 6th Avenue
North rural area
- Highway 97, north of Highway 3
- 100th Avenue
- 116th Avenue
- 115th Avenue
- 89th Street
The town says affected residents, until notified, are advised to bring their water to a rolling boil for at least one minute before consuming or to use an alternate, safe source of water.
“As a precautionary measure, the Town of Osoyoos is also issuing a water-quality advisory for the entire domestic water system to ensure users are aware of the potential for increased turbidity (brown and discoloured water),” said the town.
“The operational services department is in the process of placing signs throughout the community, as well as systematic water main flushing to address the discolouration.”
The town added that water sampling is being collected and that results should be known by Friday.
Notably, the water advisories come after town council passed a massive property tax hike of 39 per cent in October to upgrade failing water and sewer infrastructure.
Global News reached out to the town for comment, but the town replied that it had nothing to add, other than what was on its website.
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