A local businessman is stepping up to lend a hand after mysterious contamination of two eastern Otago towns' drinking supply left them without access to water.
Residents in Waikouaiti and Karitane were left in the lurch after routine testing revealed high traces of lead in the water supply.
They're now solely reliant on water bought in by tankers.
Gerald Cayford owns the Golden Fleece Hotel in Waikouaiti. He found out about the tainted supply when he received a phone call, asking if he would let one of the water tankers park up on his land.
"It was the day before yesterday I got a ring to ask me if they could put a tanker in the car park and said to me then that there had been a bit of a health warning issue and I said ... the more I can help you the better," Cayford told Breakfast.
With a long-term fix possibly several months off, he's been making calls to find his own solution.
"I've got on to some place in Auckland with water purifiers to see if it would take lead out and they're telling me it will so if I have got to put a filter coming into the main system of the hotel I will".
He says the possibility of an extended time without access to water on tap could significantly impact other local businesses.
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