Ten days without a drinkable water supply in Martinborough is frustrating food businesses and customers alike.
Bruce Sullivan of Kitcheners said some of his cafe customers had voiced their concerns when they heard the town’s supply was contaminated.
* Drinkable water in Martinborough likely to be a week away * Martinborough residents to boil drinking water until at least Monday as E.coli issue continues * Drinking water arrives in Martinborough for annual fair after town supply contaminated * Water restrictions hit cafes, hairdressers As soon as the boil water notice came into place on February 1 the cafe started using alternative water supplied by South Wairarapa District Council, but that brought its own problems.
Advertise with Stuff Sullivan said customers complained their coffees tasted of chlorine so the cafe started buying in bottled water.
Council infrastructure and services manager Mark Allingham said he understood cafe owners’ frustrations but he was sure they would rather the council fix the issue properly.
"We want to be able to instil confidence in the community that once it’s up and running it won’t happen again," he said.
The next step was to show the water was clear of E.coli at all testing sites for three consecutive days.
"It’s gone on for quite a while and we just hope the council is going to sort it out in a hurry."
"Once we have the all clear from council, all cafes will need to replace their water filters on their coffee machines as these will be fully contaminated."
"All going well, we’re hoping to have drinking water supply restored to Martinborough by next weekend," Napier said on Friday.