It could be months before Queenstown's tap water is safe to drink again, as the council waits for crucial upgrades to its water treatment plants.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council has been served with a compliance order for its Two Mile water treatment plant, which does not have the necessary barrier to stop cryptosporidium entering the water supply.
Getting that filter installed could take months, and in the meantime the boil-water notice must stay in place.
The number of people infected by the cryptosporidium parasite has risen to 21, with parasites thought to have originated from the city's water supply.
It is a major blow for the tourist town right before the start of the school holidays, with businesses having to get creative to get by.
People might have to wait months until they can drink the water running out of their taps, also disrupting businesses, like Joe's Garage.
They were sourcing water from Lake Hayes in 20-litre containers and hooking that up to their coffee machine, but co-owner Ryan Churchmain said they were going through it quickly.
"Just for the coffee machine, we've gone through about 100 litres this morning, yeah, so it's quite a bit.
"So it's constantly back and forth trying to get that water cause we can't keep up boiling that much."
Churchman said it was adding a lot of extra labour and costs to the business. They were also boiling water for food prep and hand washing each morning too. It was not something they could keep up for months on end.
"No, not ideal, yeah - ideally we'd like it sorted as soon as possible."
The council needs a UV filter to put into a treatment plant that serves the town. Mayor Glyn Lewers told the council he wanted a timeframe by the end of next week on when that filter could be installed.
Even then, Lewers said it might not be the end of the issue.
"UV will not eliminate the risk for a boiled water notice there are cases where the water turbidity or the clarity of the water will be too high, so UV will not actually be effective in those situations."
The council is planning to bring water tankers in, and has had offers of help from other councils.
Bevan Higginson. Photo: Louise Ternouth / RNZ
Bevan Higginson, owner of Billy's Espresso and Sandwiches, has been filling up their coffee machine with bottled water.
"Countdown sold out of water that night. It's lucky I know a few people around and they were like, you know, 'We've got a delivery first thing tomorrow morning to come in.'"
Higginson said the possibility of getting water from a tanker would be helpful, but he had concerns around supply and convenience for businesses.
"It it can't be an expense to us 'cause it's not, it's not our fault, yeah, so as long as [there's] enough to go around."
He said the council's timeline for a fix was not good enough.
"I'm pretty shocked if it's going to be that long. We're all thinking like, two or three days, you know? Maybe a couple of weeks, like, to get the actual system clean again - but if it's a couple of months, it's not sustainable."
Locals RNZ spoke to were fed up and worried about how long it was going to take to get things sorted.
"It just goes to show that the infrastructure in this town, we're not set up for this number of people and they've known it for years… we want people to come here, but we can't even give them water", said one woman.
Another person agreed the town's infrastructure was not up to scratch.
"The fact of the matter is most of the infrastructure is built for probably 20-30 years ago."
Ryan Churchman. Photo: Marika Khabazi / RNZ
The tourism town could be facing months of boiling water as it rolled into summer with big events on the cards. Lewers said the risk the towns' reputation could be tarnished was high.
He issued a plea to tourists with plans to visit.
"Please come, there's many places in the world that have this sort of regime in place - it's not ideal, but Queenstown is still open and you'll still have an enjoyable time here."
It was a message he hoped people would hear with the school holidays just around the corner.
Te Whatu Ora said the parasites cannot be killed with alcohol-based hand sanitizer, chlorine or bleach. It urged people to wash their hands with soap and clean surfaces with hydrogen peroxide.
The health authority says people who have been in the area before or after 18 August should be alert for symptoms, including cramps and diarrhoea.
