'Don't drink tap water' villagers told after oil spills into river

People in a Highland village have been warned not to drink tap water after a “major contamination incident”.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has sent officers to Killin after multiple reports of oil in the River Dochart nearby on Thursday evening.

Scottish Water said that over 500 domestic and business properties could be affected.

They said their specialist incident management team went to the River Dochart, where the local treatment works draws water from, and closed the intake to the treatment works.

Samples are being taken from the water network, and an investigation is ongoing as they hunt to identify the source of the spill.

The River Dochart runs into Loch Tay after a series of cascading waterfalls at the village.

Have you been impacted?

Tell us your story.

Killin Community Council shared an update from the village’s resilience team working with Scottish Water.

Residents have been advised not to drink tap water until further notice.

“This is a major contamination incident,” a statement from the community council read.

“The water supply to Killin has now been shut down while the system is being cleaned and flushed.

“Water tankers will be brought into the village to provide a temporary supply.

“Please share this information with neighbours and anyone without access to social media, and check in on anyone who may need assistance. Further updates will follow as soon as they are available.”

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.

“Officers are on site this morning (Friday, February 20) 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 being located at McLaren Hall, Main Street, Killin, FK21 8TN.

Bottled water collection points are being set-up and locations will be confirmed shortly, and Scottish Water also confirmed that door-to-door bottled water deliveries will commence this afternoon for all affected customers.