Investigation into water reservoir vandalism continues as West Kelowna awaits test results

Several days after someone tampered with a water reservoir in West Kelowna, people are still without clean water.

The City of West Kelowna issued a do not consume order, March 19, following a vandalism incident at a reservoir in the Rose Valley Water Service Area around Shannon Lake and Tallus Ridge. Approximately 300 properties are impacted.

The city said it’s still testing to make sure the reservoir is safe to be refilled, and those results are expected to come in tomorrow, and the city would be providing an update on Wednesday.

“Initial tests indicate there is no bacteriological contamination in the reservoir or distribution system,” the city said in an email. “Today, we conducted a reservoir inspection and cleaning. Once the cleaning is complete and we receive test results that indicate there is no contamination, the reservoir will be refilled.”

The alarm at the reservoir was triggered during the evening, March 19, and when city workers went to check it out they found intentional damage.

“Crews worked quickly to isolate the reservoir to limit any potentially contaminated water from entering the system. The reservoir remains isolated while we await the test results. These precautionary measures have been put in place out of an abundance of caution for public health and safety.”

The city said it is continuing to cooperate with the RCMP with its investigation.

Police announced on Friday that they had identified suspects, but hadn’t made any arrests yet.

West Kelowna RCMP did not respond to requests for comment.

For those still under the do not consume order there’s a bulk filling station at Shannon Lake Road and Asquith Road.

“We will lift the do not consume water order when we are confident there is no contamination and drinking water is safe for consumption. If test results confirm there is contamination, we will take additional steps to disinfect the water and flush out any contaminants,” the city said.

For more information about the water quality advisory, including a map of the affected area, go here.