'Like showering in an ashtray.' For 77 days, an entire NSW town has had no clean drinking water. 

When Ashleigh Long turns on the taps in her Tenterfield home, it takes five seconds before the water runs clear. Even then, a foul odour rises thickly in the air.

“It’s like having a shower in an ashtray,” the 27-year-old told Mamamia. “It literally smells like that. Horrible, stale, disgusting.”

She and the roughly 4000 residents of the northern NSW town are in the grips of what can only be described as a water crisis. Since October 4, locals have been advised to boil tap water before ingesting it.

The alert was put in place by the local council after heavy rain washed ash from nearby bushfires into the already drought-depleted dam — conditions that can cause bacteria to flourish. The town’s 1930s filtration system is struggling to cope.

Residents must instead rely on bottled water for drinking, cooking and washing produce, as well as for giving to their pets. That’s if they can get it.

Ashleigh (pictured above) says the local supermarket has been selling out of 10L containers of water within an hour of them landing on the shelves. The mother-of-one is often forced to drive 45 minutes each way to the town of Stanthorpe to find some for her family, otherwise, she has to make do with bulk-buying standard 600mL bottles.

“We’re trying to teach [my two-year-old son] how to brush his teeth. It’s a process to make sure that you have a bottle of water next to the bathroom sink to rinse his mouth out,” she said.

“It breaks my heart knowing that he is going to grow up and think that it’s normal to have to buy water when it’s something that you should be able to have freely from your tap.”

But Ashleigh is quick to note that, as someone with a car and stable household income, she’s one of the more fortunate ones.

Local woman, Luanna Legge, has been compelled to cater to the more vulnerable members of the Tenterfield community.

The 30-year-old graphic designer recently started an operation called Tenterfield Water Relief. She's established a hub in a local shed (kindly lent to her by the Moombahlene Indigenous Land Council), from which she distributes containers of donated water organised through Dignity Water and Granite Belt Water Relief.

She has also begun a home-delivery service for those who need it most — the elderly, the disabled, the vulnerable; anyone who can't manage the trip to nearby towns to buy water or aren't able to boil 10L for themselves every day.

She's given out roughly 10,000L so far.

"I delivered water yesterday to a young single mum. She herself is disabled and she has two small children under the age of 10 that have special needs, so she's on a disability pension," Lu told Mamamia. "And she rang me up crying because she said, 'I went to the supermarket and I had to decide whether to buy water or food for my children, and I didn't know what to do.'

"This woman had been spending $50 of her pension money every single week on water. It's disgusting... No mother in Australia should be having to decide between food and clean drinking water for their children."

"I should not have the right to decide who gets clean drinking water."

Lu's frustration on behalf of her community is palpable. She's contacted the local Tenterfield Shire Council, state and federal government representatives and multiple environmental and health agencies seeking answers. Answers to when the crisis will be resolved and whether they intend on offering support for residents needing water in the meantime.

So far, she said, none have offered her a meaningful response.

The reality is that there is no state or federal legislation that recognises and protects Australians' right to clean water.

"As an individual person, why am I having to set up a shed to hand out clean drinking water to 4000 civilians by myself?" Lu said. "Morally and ethically, I, as an individual person, should not have the right to decide who gets clean drinking water and how much they get. That should not be up to me or any other individual person. It should be a government-regulated responsibility."

In a statement, Tenterfield Shire Council said the boil-water alert will remain in place until future notice. It stressed that this a "precautionary measure" and said that the council is "working closely with NSW Health and DPIE [Department of Planning Industry and Environment - Water] to ensure water continues to be of an appropriate quality for the residents of Tenterfield".

This includes, the statement read, a closely monitored process of filtration, UV light treatment and chlorination, which generally takes 10-24 hours to produce enough water to supply the town each day.

Mayor Peter Petty assured residents via the statement that chemicals utilised in the water treatment process are food-grade and in line with NSW Health guidelines.

The Council previously stated that water is tested daily to ensure it is within the NSW Health Guidelines and that weekly sampling is required by NSW Health for bacteriological analysis.

Lu argues it's not enough. She says communication has been woefully inadequate and at no point has it been made clear precisely what the results of testing have been or the potential consequences if the boil advice is not followed.

"Because there's been no data released to the public, a lot of people are now no longer feeling confident that their interests are being protected," she said. "So they're quite sceptical of whether or not it's actually safe. And even if you decide that [the council is] telling the truth, how do you go about boiling enough water for an entire family of five in the space of a day and then refrigerating it?

"It's quite a time-intensive process, and meanwhile we're still paying full-price water rates. There's been no compensation or recompense."

Ashleigh Long is among those who have felt compelled to take extra precautions. Her son has suffered from eczema and dermatitis since before this crisis began, but she said his symptoms are exacerbated by the town water.

"It makes him flare up something shocking. So we don't actually bath him every day anymore, just because it is more trouble than it's worth to try and keep him comfortable," she said.

"The collapse of civilisation."

Tenterfield is a place of historic significance to our county. It's the place where, in 1889, Sir Henry Parks delivered a speech calling for the colonies to federate and form a single country.

But unless the water situation changes — and soon — Lu and Ashleigh fear the so-called 'birthplace of our nation' will face a cruel death.

"We have such a rich heritage and history. It's such a beautiful town," Ashleigh said. "For anybody that wants to come, there is always something that Tenterfield has to offer. But I think if it doesn't rain and if the council doesn't fix our issues with water in the next six months, I just don't know if there is going to be a Tenterfield here any more.

"It baffles me, but it feels like no one cares."

Lu agrees.

"This is like watching the collapse of civilisation," she said. "People here are very resilient, tough, strong country people. And I'm watching them cry because they can't access clean drinking water for their families. This is not something I ever thought I would experience."

If you'd like to help the people of Tenterfield, Lu encourages you to get in touch with Granite Belt Water Relief or Dignity Water.

Featured image: supplied.