NOLA.COM: Safe water may be months away in N.O. (Dump raw sewage)

By Martha Carr
Staff writer


The east bank of New Orleans may not have safe tap water for up to two more months, Sewerage & Water Board officials revealed Tuesday, further jeopardizing plans to begin a staggered repopulation of unflooded Uptown neighborhoods and the French Quarter.

Hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans' water, drainage and sewer systems, and officials said they are working aggressively to restore services as quickly as possible, but the job is one of unprecedented proportions.

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Floodwaters 20 feet deep also destroyed the only wastewater treatment plant that services the east bank, located on Florida Avenue near the St. Bernard Parish line. Repairs to that facility could cost $156 million and take nine months, during which time the city has no other alternative than to send untreated sewage generated west of the Industrial Canal into the Mississippi River, St. Martin said. East of the canal, sewage may have to be sent to Lake Pontchartrain through a newly engineered bypass system or possibly through open drainage canals, officials said.

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Note for decades have we had raw refuse dumped in to drainage canals. The environmental disaster is much worse than being reported.

The Times-Picayune News Blog

The first time I went there over 20 years ago I had a table full of people jump all over me when I started to lift a glass of water to my lips. I never saw such a reaction in my life.

That's a matter of considerable debate. I personally never drunk the tapwater due taste, but other than being 1/2 chemicals, it was palatable.

I didn't have any concerns about bathing or brushing teeth, washing dishes, etc.