Boil water notice issued for Eastbank of New Orleans

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After a brief power loss at the Sewerage & Water Board plant in Carrollton on Wednesday morning, New Orleans city officials are urging residents to boil water before consuming it in any way until water quality can be assured.

For details, see the full news release from the mayor’s office below:

The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB) has issued a precautionary boil water advisory for the East Bank of New Orleans, including New Orleans East and the Lower Ninth Ward. Residents in the affected area are advised per State Department of Health and Hospitals not to use tap water to drink, make ice or brush teeth until further notice. Residents in the affected area that are immune-compromised are advised not to wash hands, or shower or bath. All other residents are advised to take precautions for the below hygiene actions:

Washing hands: Use soap and tap water, dry hands then apply hand sanitizer; the safest option is to wash with safe water.

Shower or bath: Being careful not to swallow any water, one may take a shower safely. Using caution when bathing infants and young children so that no water is swallowed is considered fairly safe. A sponge bath reduces the chance of swallowing water. The time spent bathing should be minimized. Children and disabled individuals should have their bath supervised to ensure water is not ingested. Though the risk of illness is minimal, individuals who have recent surgical wounds, are immunosuppressed, or have a chronic illness may want to consider using bottled or boiled water for cleansing until the advisory is lifted. For those who want to be absolutely safe, use safe water until further notice per the Louisiana Office of Public Health – Infectious Disease Epidemiology Section.

This morning, there was a power fluctuation at the Sewerage & Water Board Carrollton Plant which caused a momentary drop in water pressure. Water pressure has been restored, however it was confirmed that the pressure dropped below the threshold of 15psi.

S&WB and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) officials have begun testing water samples.

Customers in other areas of the city are not affected and do not need to boil their water.

The boil water advisory will remain in effect until further notice for customers in the affected area. S&WB will notify resident when the advisory is lifted. If you have any questions, please call 52WATER (529-2837).

Boil water advisories are issued out of an abundance of caution whenever the water pressure drops below 15psi. We agree with the recommendations of our regulatory partner, the Department of Health and Hospitals, that it is prudent to issue these advisories out of an abundance of caution. The concern is that a pressure drop inside of the water pipe could allow an opportunity for contaminants into the pipe. Chlorine is a chemical that is added to water to combat contamination. The Sewerage and Water Board staff maintains a high chlorine residual and we aggressively and continually monitor our chlorine residual to ensure that our potable water has the ability to fight off bacteriological growth.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR BOILING WATER

Boil water for one full minute in a clean container. The one-minute boil time begins after the water has been brought to a rolling boil. (If there is a flat taste, it can be eliminated by shaking the water in a bottle or pouring it from one container to another.)

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