Villagers warned not to drink tap water after oil spills into river

Perthshire residents have been strictly advised to not drink their tap water until further notice, after a “major contamination incident” in the River Dochart.

The water supply to Killin has now been shut down while the system is being cleaned and flushed, the Killin Community council said. It comes after reports of oil in the river on Thursday evening.

A Stirling Council spokesperson told The Independent: “We can confirm that we are aware of a potential localised water contamination in Killin and are liaising with Scottish Water and SEPA to establish the extent of this. Information provided by Scottish Water will inform further steps to respond to affected council services and properties.“

“Bottled drinking water is being made available to residents from Scottish Water who are on site. We will provide a further update when more information becomes available. In the meantime, residents are advised to check Scottish Water’s website for the latest updates.”

Scottish Water took immediate action to close the intake to the treatment works on Friday morning and samples are being taken from the water network.

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It has advised householders and businesses not to use their tap water for drinking, food preparation or washing, making babies’ feeds, brushing teeth, bathing or for feeding pets until further notice.

Any drinks and ice dispensing machines should also be avoided as these may be connected to the mains supply. Boiling will not make water safe to drink. Mains water can only be used for flushing toilets during this incident.

Scottish Water’s head of customer water services, John Griffen, said: “We appreciate the inconvenience this advice not to use water will bring to people and businesses in the affected areas, but at all times our priority has to be the protection of public health.

“The incident management team is continuing to monitor the situation, liaising with NHS and SEPA. We will update customers regularly however we do anticipate this disruption to last several days, and thank customers for their patience and understanding while we work to restore their supply.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said: “SEPA received several reports of oil within the River Dochart, near Killin, on Thursday evening and overnight.

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“Officers are on site this morning (Friday 20th February) to identify the source and investigations are ongoing.

“We would like to thank those who reported the incident to SEPA and encourage anyone who witnesses a pollution incident to contact us immediately on 0800 80 70 60 or by submitting an online report with as much information as possible.”

An information point for customer support is located at McLaren Hall, Main Street, Killin, FK21 8TN.

Bottled water collection points are being set-up and locations will be confirmed shortly and distributed in due course.

Door-to-door bottled water deliveries will commence this afternoon for all customers, and customers will receive a hand-delivered letter each day updating them on the progress towards restoring normal supply.

The council has advised people to continue to share this information with neighbours and anyone without access to social media particularly anyone who may need support.

The local government body also asks residents to check in on anyone who may need assistance.

Further updates will follow on the council’s Facebook page as soon as they are available.