A family in northeast Calgary is warning their neighbours and fellow Calgarians to remain cautious following an unexpected visit by two people who claimed to be with Energy Efficiency Alberta.

The Airharts were in the process of putting their young son to bed at approximately 7:30 p.m. one recent evening when someone knocked on the door.

“Two girls, I would say between 18 and 20 years old, knocked on the front door, introduced themselves, explained that they were from Alberta Energy Efficiency,” said Dawn Airhart. “They were going around testing people’s water to see how much sediment was in their water. They asked me if they should take their shoes off or leave them on. It wasn’t even a question of whether I’d like them to come in and test.”

Airhart says the visitors wore nametags and produced a laminated page with a company logo and she agreed to allow them into the home after they showed her their identification.

“Part of the reason I let them in was because I was curious about what they were doing and what this was really about. It didn’t seem quite right.”

Airhart escorted the women to the furnace room of the home where the visitors appeared confused by the standard issue water tank. “They asked to see the main waterline so I showed them the waterline in the basement. They had never seen a water tank that wasn’t glass which seemed weird to me because I’ve never seen a glass water tank.”

The visitors and Airhart returned upstairs and a cup was requested.

“They put water in the cup and tested it and informed me that the sediment in our taps was 162 parts per million and that was unsafe and we should not be drinking it,” said Airhart. “They had also noticed our baby gate so they made it very clear that we should especially not be letting our child drink the water and we needed to install a water filtration system.”

Airhart told the women that she was content with the state of her water and the visitors recommended a Brita filter and thanked her for her time without attempting to sell her anything. “I figured it was going one of two ways,” said Airhart. “They were casing my house out to see if it was worth breaking into or, on the other side, I figured they were going to try and sell me a water filtration system.”

Once the women left, Airhart was unsuccessful in her online searches for additional information regarding an Energy Efficiency Alberta water testing program.

CTV Calgary contacted Energy Efficiency Alberta on behalf of the Airharts and representatives of the company confirmed it does not test water and house calls are conducted on an appointment basis.

“If someone else who doesn’t have an appointment with us is unexpectedly approached by anyone claiming to be from Energy Efficiency Alberta, we’re asking them to call 1-844-357-5604,” said Energy Efficiency Alberta’s Curt Boechler in a statement to CTV.

The Calgary Police Service encourages Calgarians to exercise caution when facing an unexpected visitor at their door.

“The type of action or interaction that people have on their doorsteps can be very intimidating,” said Sergeant Andrew Critchley of the crime prevention unit. “When somebody turns up on your doorstep and claims to be from any of the reputable businesses or organizations, our first reaction is to believe the person.”

“My first piece of advice to the citizens of Calgary is to ask to see identification and, if there’s any element of uncertainty, to err on the side of caution and to take appropriate secondary measures to ask further questions (and) look to see if there’s a vehicle outside.”

Critchley reminds Calgarians to be vigilant, to not believe everything they are told and to remember that no one has a right to enter your home without permission.

With files from CTV's Alesia Fieldberg