UPDATED 1.47PM: Havelock North and Hastings residents have been rallying together at a community walk in the Hawke's Bay this morning.

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Councils and iwi are supporting the 4.5 kilometre Walk for Water rally, in which an estimated hundreds of people walked from Havelock North to Hastings.

Thousands of people had fallen ill from drinking water which had tested positive for E.Coli over the last three weeks. The council chlorinated the water and asked Havelock North residents to boil it before washing or drinking.

Two public meetings were held in Havelock North this week to allow local residents to ask questions and vent frustrations.

Organiser Bayden Barber said today's event was about uniting the community, which has been severely affected by the Campylobacter outbreak.

"The emphasis for us was that the community would come out in force, which they did, and even the politicians, to walk as residents first," he said.

"It's not about campaigning. We were all touched by the water issue and we were walking as a unified community."

"The walk is an opportunity for them to get out of their homes. A lot of them have been stuck at home sick for the last few weeks, so it's an opportunity to get out and bring the community together."

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Barber said the Hastings and Havelock North community wants water that's safe to drink and rivers that are safe to swim in.

"The wider water issues around pollution and our waterways, our rivers, bottling of water, the dam, you know there's huge water issues here in Hawke's Bay, and in New Zealand."

The economic impact of the outbreak is being felt across the region.