Despite numerous posts from the Town of Kindersley over the past several days reassuring people that the local water remains safe for consumption, regardless of its stench, some residents are remaining skeptical of the smelly situation.

UPDATE: Water restriction lifted in Kindersley

These problems haven't been limited to just Kindersley, as people living in the Town of Eston have been forced to deal with some similar water restrictions as well. Back on August 23rd the Town announced that residents could not perform any unnecessary water use, and then a few days later when more news came in about the situation, they had a similar response to Kindersley:

Now fast forward to this week, each Town has continued to reassure customers their local water is safe. There is still no answer for anyone complaining about the odour, but worried residents should relax even though the path towards fixing the water remains fluid.

West Central Online spoke with Jody Schmidt, Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Eston. 

"I did notice (Kindersley) put something out, which I thought was really good about how they explained the reservoir."

Schmidt said that in hindsight they should have went a similar route to Kindersley in explaining the water situation, as they are partners when it comes to the EK raw water line that gets its supply from the river.

"It comes from the river, and then branches off as one line goes to Eston and one line goes to Kindersley. We do have the Eston-Kindersley Water Board that we are all part of (too)."

Looking to the core of the problem, Schmidt explained coming across the initial issue.

"The leak was noticed at the EK-Snipe Lake pumphouse - that's where the line splits off - so what we are currently trying to do is identify (what line)," she shared as the issue could be coming from Kindersley, Eston, or the river's portion of the project.

"During the last couple of weeks we had to pull from our reservoir at different times, the same as Kindersley, so when we have to pull from the reservoir then it's not directly from the river right? It's different water, it's treated a little different, and then the residents will notice a different smell or colour, but it's safe and it meets regulations."

Those final words might get repetitive for admin workers continuing to hear complaints from townspeople about the smell. Concerned residents need to know that a boil water advisory is put in place any time there is a consumption issue with the town supply, as things could be a lot worse than just noticing a residual smell in your home. People just need to be confident the remaining problems will go away over time as water reserves become restored.

Obviously each town acknowledges any inconveniences that they could have caused, but at least in Schmidt's case she noted that this wide-spread problem created a good chance to let people know just where there water is coming from at all times.

"It's good to get the information out there. Have everybody know and everybody understand, because sometimes we just say there are restrictions, but if people understand 'why', then maybe they have a higher tolerance level?"

If anything, this stink caused around the Kindersley area just proves to residents how much behind the scenes work actually goes on when it comes to the necessity of water.

"We pull from there quite often, and when we do they notice a difference. In a way too we were hoping to get the problem fixed a lot sooner. We thought the leak would be identified, it wouldn't be something left ongoing, but that's not the case." 

West Central Online will continue to keep track of the pungent water continuing to affect many local residents.