Residents of Opunake are being advised to boil their drinking and cooking water after the town's water supply was overwhelmed by erosion sediment.
Heavy rain on Mt Taranaki on Sunday sent a surge of sediment down the Waiaua River, blocking the treatment plant intake.
The town's water reservoir holds only one day's supply and almost all of that has been used.
The treament plant problem has now been fixed and the reservoir is refilling.
However, South Taranaki District Council says it cannot yet guarantee the water quality and water for drinking or food preparation should be boiled as a precaution for a day or two.
A tanker is parked outside the library to supply clean drinking water.
