Homeowners, town seek answers

Cloudy tap water isn’t making a splash with some Pyramid Lake Road residents.

Jasper Jr./Sr. High School principal Dale Karpluk lives in one of a group of houses on the street that’s been spouting discoloured H20 for months.

“There are four houses on this corner where there’s water that’s turning the toilets yellow and it’s not clear for drinking,” she said. “I did call the town and they’re investigating and trying to figure it out.”

Because tests show it’s safe Karpluk has continued to pour glasses from the tap.

“You’re so used to drinking the water and enjoying wonderful water,” she said.

Karpluk’s top concern is what the guests who rent her tourist rooms think when they turn on the tap.

“I had one who came down and said, ‘Is this water safe to drink?’” she said. “That was after I just told her the water’s great in Jasper.”

Because her home isn’t the only one with water woes, Karpluk said she believes the issue is on the city’s end.

“When it’s four houses the same it’s obvious to me the house is not the problem,” she said. “It’s obviously not any individual homeowner’s problem.”

Director of environmental services Ken Quackenbush said the opposite - he suspects the problem is with the houses.

“On that street they’re right off the main coming from the reservoir so if they’re seeing something we should see something in the rest of town as well and we’re not,” he said. “But it may not be, it could be something with that section of main.”

Quackenbush said the town is helping the residents troubleshoot, but so far tests have come up clear.

“We’ve done a bunch of water quality testing and there’s nothing in that that would identify a problem,” he said.

In the meantime, Karpluk’s just waiting for answers.

“I think everybody’s anxious to figure it out,” she said.