40,000 bottles of water delivered so far to Scottish village affected by diesel spill
Bottled water is being delivered for a third day and locals have been warned not to use tap water for anything other than flushing toilets.
Around 40,000 bottles of water have been delivered door-to-door in a village where local water supply has been impacted by a diesel spill.
Residents in Killin in Perthshire have been told they could face "several days" of disruption to water supplies after reports of an attempted fuel theft at a petrol station caused a strong solvent taste in the water and in the air outside on Friday.
The spillage first affected the River Dochart and may have now spread to other water sources.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said they detected an intermittent oil sheen present in the River Tay at Kenmore which is downstream from the main source of the pollution.
On Saturday, people and pets were warned not to enter the water in Loch Tay or River Tay in the Highland Perthshire or Stirling Council areas.
Bottled water is being delivered to affected homes for a third day and locals have been warned not to use tap water for anything other than flushing toilets. This includes drinking, cooking, washing, brushing teeth, feeding pets and the use of appliances such as coffee and ice machines that are connected to the mains supply.
Customers have also been warned that boiling the water will not make it safe to drink.
A hot food van is also operating in Killin to assist residents who cannot prepare meals without access to safe tap water.
Scottish Water teams have been working round the clock since the alarm was raised and the local water treatment works was shut down as a precautionary measure.
Water Operations General Manager John Griffen said: “Our priority is to protect public health by making sure no contaminated water enters the supply network.
“We are doing everything we can to support customers who have been affected by providing reliable alternative supplies while the normal supply is unavailable.
“Our teams are flushing the network using tankers and carrying out continuous sampling and testing at our dedicated laboratories to closely monitor/ analyse water quality.
“The sample results inform every decision we take, and only when we are satisfied that there is no risk to customers, will we change our guidance.”
Scottish Water said it is working closely with the Sepa and NHS partners to monitor water quality and assess the network.
Mr Griffen added: “We have had over 100 staff providing advice to households and businesses on an individual level. Volunteers have issued approx 40,000 bottles of water so far.
“We are working incredibly hard to restore the treatment works and network to normal operations as quickly and safely as possible although this may take several days.
“We are actively tankering water into the local network to flush the pipe system and to allow customers to flush their toilets.”
A spokesperson for Certas Energy, which operates the GULF Lix Toll station at Killin, told the BBC they were informed of a "fuel loss" on Friday morning following an "attempted theft which damaged one of our fuel tanks".
"Equipment was found on site that suggested there was an attempt to steal diesel from the tank," the company said.
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