Water trucked in as crews work around the clock to fix dry taps in Swan River, Man.
Shane Gibson | CBC News | Posted: January 29, 2018 4:06 AM | Last Updated: January 29, 2018
Schools will be closed and hospital services reduced Monday as residents asked to reduce water usage
Some businesses in Swan River, Man., won't open Monday and services are being scaled back as crews work around the clock to find a solution to a water shortage that's led the town to call a local state of emergency and bring in truckloads of bottled water for residents.
The state of emergency was called Sunday after officials noticed water from the community's well had mysteriously stopped flowing to the water treatment plant around 8 p.m. CT Saturday.
"I've been in municipal politics 21 years and I've never been involved in a crisis situation like we're dealing with right now," Swan River Mayor Glen McKenzie told CBC News late Sunday.
An online notice from the town, which is about 380 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, said the community's treated water supply was anticipated to run out by Sunday evening.
The town's nearly 4,000 residents have been told to reduce their water usage to just two litres per day for drinking and two litres per day for cooking and sanitation.
That's meant all elective surgeries and dialysis treatments have been cancelled at the Swan River Valley Hospital Monday, with dialysis patients being moved to surrounding communities.
Schools will also remain closed in the community Monday, and McKenzie says many businesses and restaurants have also decided not to open until the taps start running again.
'Something that we've never encountered'
McKenzie says engineering staff have been working around the clock in two shifts trying to identify why the water stopped flowing, but so far haven't had any luck.
"They have some heavy equipment out there and they're digging down to isolate the header that connects the three pumps," he explained. "We're trying to find out what the problem is but nothing has been found at this point in time."
The well, which is about one-and-a-half kilometres from the treatment plant, is connected by a 20-centimetre pipe running underground. It's unknown where the problem spot is located.
Earlier in the day Sunday, Swan River's deputy mayor, Lance Jacobson, told CBC News the town's two main wells "just quit pumping water to the facility," and that officials are hoping to get a third well working and pump water from it overland if necessary.
"This is something that we've never encountered," Jacobson said.
'It was just insane'
Meanwhile, McKenzie says two semi-trailer loads of bottled water and a tanker of potable water has been brought in and is available to residents at the Swan Valley Regional Secondary School.
The Red Cross is also on standby should the emergency resources run out, he said.
Portable toilets have also been brought in and are available for residents in the wash bay at the Swan Valley Co-op.
Before the water arrived, many in the community scrambled to stock up on bottled water says Samantha Genaille, who lives in Swan River with her husband and their three-year-old son.
She said the town's grocery stores had sold out of water within hours of opening.
"It was just insane," she said. "There were lineups outside of the stores with everyone just trying to get as much water as possible. I think people were in panic mode."
Genaille said the taps were still working at her house as of 7:45 p.m. Sunday, but she's filled her bathtub with water just in case they run dry when she wakes up Monday morning.
That's a scenario she isn't looking forward to.
"I think it's going to be chaos," she said, pausing when asked what that would mean for her family's morning routine. "Just getting ready for work.… I wouldn't even know where to begin."
A community effort
McKenzie says everyone in the community has been "awesome" during the crisis, and is grateful for volunteers who went to all of the roughly 1,680 homes in the community Sunday to pass along pamphlets with information and to check on elderly residents.
"Everybody has been reducing the amount of water and the different businesses and community organizations," he said. "Their support and offers of help are unbelievable."
The mayor wouldn't speculate on how long the emergency water supply will last, but remains hopeful a solution will be found soon.
"The engineers are looking at a number of options and a number of theories," he said.
"Hopefully some of the options that we're working on will resolve the situation within the next 24 hours."