Scottish Water working to restore supplies after river fuel spill

Scottish Water says it is “working incredibly hard” to restore clean drinking water to a village in Stirlingshire after diesel spilled into a nearby river.

A suspected fuel theft from a petrol station is thought to be the cause of the spillage into in the River Dochart, near Killin.

Around 500 households and businesses around Killin have been told not to use their tap water for drinking, food preparation, brushing teeth or washing until further notice – and to only use it for flushing toilets.

Residents have been warned the situation may persist for several days.

On Saturday, Scottish Water said it was attempting to clean the contamination from the water system.

Water operations general manager John Griffen said: “Our priority is to protect public health by making sure no contaminated water enters the supply network.

“We are doing everything we can to support customers who have been affected by providing reliable alternative supplies while the normal supply is unavailable.

“That includes specialist staff who can provide advice to households and businesses on an individual level. Volunteers are also being mobilised to help with bottled water.

“We are working incredibly hard to restore the treatment works and network to normal operations as quickly and safely as possible although this may take several days.”

He added: “We are actively tankering water into the local network to flush the pipe system and to allow customers to flush their toilets.

“This will also ensure that when the network can be brought back into normal operation, it does so safely and with the highest levels of water quality assurance.”

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) is also investigating the pollution incident.