A clean water supply returned on Monday to a part of a northeastern China county where thousands of people had suffered from polluted tap water during the weekend, local authorities said.

By Sunday afternoon, 2,675 households in seven residential areas in Yilan, Heilongjiang province, had been affected by the contaminated water, according to an announcement on the county government's website.

As a result, about 9,000 people found themselves lining up in front of temporary water stations to get drinking water, Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday. The consequences of not getting clean water were dire.

According to reports, many local residents had come down with intestinal illnesses.

"My baby, an 18-month-old, began to vomit and had diarrhea a few days ago," a female resident told the Heilongjiang Morning News on Monday.

"I sent him to the hospital yesterday, since he did not improve after he had taken medicine. Fortunately, his situation is taking a turn for the better now.

"I have now bought a lot of bottled water for my family, because I'm really worried."

The county government confirmed that excessive amounts of e-coli bacteria had been found in the water.

Zhang Wen, a county official, told Xinhua on Sunday that some of the underground water pipes there are old and cracked, allowing pollutants to enter the water stream.

By Monday afternoon, two of the seven affected residential areas had seen their water supplies restored, local authorities said.

Work to repair and disinfect the water supply system is still under way and is expected