A precautionary drinking water advisory has been lifted for the Village of Kenaston four days after a power outage compromised the safety of the drinking water supply.

Carmen Fowler, administrator for Kenaston, said village residents were advised April 20 to boil all drinking water and any water used for other activities such as brushing teeth or dishwashing plus not drink from any public fountains after the widespread power outage occurred between the hours of 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. that night.

“Once the power is out for a period of time then the (water) treatment plant depressurizes, which can cause contamination of the water lines once the power comes back on,” said Fowler. “The person taking care of the treatment plant, depending on what the situation is, monitors what happens and if they feel it needs to be called in (to the regional environmental protection officer) they have the numbers for them. He talks to them, gives them the situation and they decide whether to put (an advisory) on or not.”

Fowler said only residents of the village were affected by the drinking water advisory, so any outlying farms did not have to boil their water. She said Mayor ML Whittles, a councillor, herself and members of the volunteer fire department went door-to-door after the advisory was issued to inform residents of the situation.

Tyler Hopson, spokesperson for SaskPower, said the outage affected 890 customers in the areas of Hanley, Kenaston and Hawarden. He said the culprit was supporting equipment failure and workers for SaskPower got the equipment fixed and the power back on as quickly as possible.

Fowler said this is the first time a power outage has prompted a precautionary drinking water advisory in Kenaston and to get the water back up to snuff she sent three samples to the provincial lab at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon last Monday and Wednesday. She said the village received a clear result after they sent the second samples in that they could lift the advisory.

“We’re hoping this never happens again,” she said, “but we can’t control that I guess.”