A precautionary drinking water advisory is in effect due to valve repairs being made on a water line near the intersection of Marquis Road and Second Avenue.

The advisory affects the rural municipalities of Duck Lake and Prince Albert, and came into effect as of 3:30 p.m on Tuesday.

Prince Albert Rural Water Utility manager Ken Danger said line testing will begin on Wednesday and Thursday, with the results available before the weekend.

“If things go well, and I’ve got no reason to believe they won’t, late in the day tomorrow (Wednesday) they’ll take a set of water samples, and they will take another sample Thursday shortly before lunch,” he explained. “Of course, when (the city) puts us back on their system, we will have to do the same thing.”

Danger added that if everything checks out, the advisory should be lifted by Friday.

Until the ban ends, residents in the two rural municipalities should boil their water for at least one minute before drinking.

There will also be a temporary shut down of water starting at 10:30 a.m. today, which will also affect residents living south of the city, with the exception of those drawing water from the 302 East Water line.

Danger said the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency told them there likely wasn’t a large risk for local residents, but they’d rather be safe than sorry.

“Their position actually was, well, if it wasn’t depressurized for any length of time and it wasn’t opened up, chances of there being a problem are slim, and that’s true,” Danger explained. “My position was if they did turn the valve off and the pressure was reduced, there’s a slim chance that there could be a problem.”

Further updates about the advisory can be found on the Prince Albert Rural Water Utility website at www.parwu.com.

Work on the water line will begin today at 8 a.m., and is expected to finish by the end of the day.

@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca