Dorice says she still washes her clothes because she has no choice. She has resorted to buying bottled water for drinking.
"We went to Hamilton and bought a 20 litre container with a tap.
"We filled it up at our daughter's place in Hamilton — their water is beautiful. I've now got three big containers of water in the kitchen."
Dorice wasn't impressed to hear about Council's mock water bills arriving in the mail.
The mock bills show how much water households used in the last quarter of 2017 or since residents' meter was last read.
They will show what the cost of that water will be once charging begins and will enable water users to compare their use with similar households.
"The water bills are ridiculous — I'm not paying for this stinking filthy stuff. Why should I have to pay for something that I can't drink?"
Waipa District Council has received 53 calls about taste and odour issues in Te Awamutu since January 1.
Water services manager Tony Hale says the change in taste and odour is caused by algae in the water supply.
"Natural algae levels increase in the summer months due to higher temperatures and low levels of water in the stream," he says.
He says while it is unpleasant, the water is safe to drink and complies with New Zealand drinking-water standards.
"We are taking water from the stream instead of our storage dams when possible as this has much lower levels of algae present.
"We are closely monitoring the dam and the algae levels are reducing, which over time will also improve the taste and odour issues."
