Beer is quite literally on tap for residents of an apartment block in the south Indian state of Kerala, after alcohol seeped into a well and mixed with the water supply for the surrounding area.

People living in Solomon's Avenue Apartments were stunned to notice a dark color to their tap water on Monday morning, and raised the issue.

"When we switched on the water motor, brown water flowed from our taps," Joshy Maliakkal, who has been a resident of Solomon's Avenue Apartments, in the Chalakudy municipality, for 47 years, told CNN.

"When we went to check the tank, we saw there was an oil-like film floating on the surface and a stench was emanating from it."

Maliakkal said that workers had been digging a hole and disposing of alcohol from the nearby Rachna Bar and Hotel the previous day. A total of 6,000 liters (1,585 gallons) of liquor was stored there, according to a Kerala official.

"The liquor had expired and was kept there since 2014 so we dug a trench on the premises to dispose of the liquor. Unfortunately, it seeped into the nearby well and polluted the water stream of the nearby apartment complex," a local official told CNN.

As a result, beer, brandy and rum has been pouring into the apartment complex's kitchen sinks.

The 18 families who live in the apartment complex have filed a complaint with the local municipality, Maliakkal said. "So far they have provided us with 5,000 liters (1,320 gallons) of water but that is not enough for these many people" he added.

"They should not have allotted land for a bar so close to a residential area," Maliakkal said. "The lack of water makes things quite difficult."

Kerala became a dry state in 2014 when the sale of alcohol was prohibited, but those restrictions were relaxed in 2017.

CNN