BC Water News Exclusive

SEPT. 2, 2005

Drying Out

Wastewater experts work to establish basic services
in New Orleans

by Richard Hellmann | BC WATER NEWS

"New Orleans has been there for hundreds of years and endured a great deal. In a few years, this will be a bad memory."

Nothing may ever be normal again in New Orleans, but Water News reader Larry Landry is among wastewater experts in Louisiana determined to help the city gain a new lease on life.

The task ahead is huge and no quick fix is on the horizon: Floodwaters, spiked with tons of contaminants, will linger for years in the Gulf. The flooded city must be pumped dry and the drinking water system must be flushed. That alone will take months.

Once the water is gone, officials will sample the soil and determine how safe it is for residents to come back. That survey will take about six months.

Electric power is gone. Drinking water is gone. Sewage services are gone. Roads are destroyed. Tens of thousands of homes are buried in water and debris. Some people will not be able to get back to their homes for months — if ever.

In the meantime, Landry, superintendent of water treatment in the Department of Operational Services for the City of Shreveport, and his colleagues statewide are scrambling to provide facilities with whatever assistance they can.

“I have been in contact with one plant in Algiers (a 24 mgd facility on the West Bank, across the Mississippi River from downtown New Orleans). They are running on emergency power. Communication is spotty. They are also trying to start up another plant across the river on the East Bank. They seem to have chemical problems (availability) somewhat solved. I have them reported to WaterISAC, but they have not been able to establish communications.”

WaterISAC, the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center, provides a link between the water sector and federal environmental, homeland security, law enforcement, intelligence and public health agencies.

The Algiers plant has also experienced some leaks, Landry said, but operators are reasonably sure that they are gaining water in their elevated tanks.

It’s important to establish a few working treatment plants, he noted, especially on either side of the river, in order to begin the process of supplying potable water (most likely via National Guard trucks) as preliminary cleanup and recovery work begins.

Landry said the Algiers plant’s biggest concern was chemical supplies (Ferric sulfate liquid, chlorine gas, ammonia gas), but the state health department is helping ensure the facility has the basics.

The WaterISAC team said its subscribers were offering these mutual aid resources:

> Portable generators and portable pumps from South Walton Utility Co. Contact general manager Pete DeBogory at 850.837.7648 (fax: 850.978.2711) or ped@swuci.org.

> High-capacity electric pumps, sandbag-filling machines, crane trucks with specialized grapples, plus water quality specialists, water treatment plant operators, etc., from the Santa Clara Valley Water District Office of Emergency Services. Contact acting unit manager Richard Staley at 408.265.2607, Ext.2236 (cell: 408.892.5379) or rstaley@valleywater.org.

As for the rest of New Orleans, most of the city is without power or communications, including cell phones and the Internet.

“The Algiers plant seems to be fortunate in this capacity, as well as having enough emergency power to produce, treat and pump at least some potable water,” Landry said. “With about 1 million people in the metro area, right now there is only one water plant running with a capacity of less than 24 mgd. That is not good, but it is a start.”

He hasn’t had much luck in contacting other engineering firms in New Orleans, but remains optimistic for the city.

“New Orleans has been there for hundreds of years and endured a great deal. In a few years, this will be a bad memory. The difficult part will be getting a toehold on establishing basic services for re-construction to begin. Water and sewerage are critical in this.”