Demand was so great among those wanting their drinking water tested for polluting nitrates this week, that some had to be turned away.
Gwenda Smithies was among roughly 140 people who lined up in Leeston to have their drinking water tested.
Photo: RNZ / Conan Young
When RNZ arrived, the carpark at the Leeston library was full to overflowing and the queue of people clutching containers of their drinking water was out the door.
The tests were done by the Canterbury Regional Council.
Top groundwater scientist Carl Hanson, who was there to answer people s questions, said nitrate levels in drinking water across this part of Canterbury had been slowly rising.