It was shortly after last month’s floods and Omakau man Kevin Kilkelly (49) was at home, halfway through a five-hour dialysis treatment.
Suddenly, the machine stopped.
"The colour of the water was all brown and it just shut down my machine because it blocked all the filters up."
Since then, Mr Kilkelly has had to drive to Dunedin Hospital and back twice a week, for a total of three five-hour sessions. Mr Kilkelly has kidney failure and has been on the treatment since February.
"It’s pretty draining, to be fair. You sit in a chair for five to six hours a day and then have to drive home afterwards. Another two hours back to Omakau. It’s pretty draining once you get home."
He would continue to do this until the boil water notice was lifted, he said.
"I don’t want to put that water into my body."
Driving to Dunedin and back so often also came at great financial cost, he said.
The town’s water problems were "beyond a joke".
"The colour of the water makes you think of Third World country water."
Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan said while for some the water situation was a "pain in the neck", for people like Mr Kilkelly it was a "real problem".
Upgrading the town’s water system was a "high priority", but the difficulty in finding a new water source was the reason a July date was set.
