Customer Service Centers
Our Downtown Customer Service Center on 625 St. Joseph Street is open to the public for normal business hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday – Friday. Customers can make an appointment to speak to a Customer Service Representative or pay their bills in person here: Schedule a Appointment for an In-Person visit.
Our West Bank office continues to be closed due to storm damage and we hope to welcome back our customers to this location by the middle of November.
The payment drop boxes in both locations are available 24 hours. We are receiving payments daily in the drop boxes and also collected the payments that were dropped off in the days before and after the storm.
Please continue to come in-person with questions about your account or to open a new account, or you can write us at customerservice@swbno.org.
Satellite Customer Service Centers
The New Orleans East satellite office at the East New Orleans Libary on Read Blvd. has been re-opened to welcome customers on Thursdays from 10 am to 4 pm.
The satellite customer service at the Sanchez Center in the Lower 9th Ward has also re-opened to welcome customers on Wednseday from 10 am to 3 pm.
Please schedule an appointment for in-person visits here.
Meter Reading Status and Billing Estimates
To reduce the number of customers that could have a 32+ day billing cycle, we estimated the customers that would have billed during the period of Aug 30 - Sept 10.
- The billing for Ida-affected cycles was completed by Wednesday, September 22.
- Meter reading for the remaining September cycles resumed on Tuesday, September 14.
- Some additional addresses may need to be estimated. This is dependent on Meter Reading staffing.
- We have resumed generating and mailing bills.
If you were out of town for an extended period for Hurricane Ida, your water usage may have been lower, but you should still account for fixed fees on your bill. In many instances, residential customers owe $58.54 in fees and "ready to serve" charges before the first drop of water is used.
In addition to the City of New Orleans' sanitation charge, these fees cover the fixed cost of maintaining the treatments plants, pumping stations, underground pipes and cost of operations. Again, these charges are billed even if no water is used.
The City has granted a one-time fee-waiver for the sanitation charge due to recent disruptions in service. Customers should expect this fee to be waived on their November billing cycle.
Customer Care Payment Plans
Understanding the significant impact of these storms, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic on both our customers and the financial standing of our utility, we are continuing our customer-focused Customer Care Payment Plans.
“We are always committed to making compassion-driven decisions on behalf of all of our customers and encourage anyone concerned about affording their water bill to reach out to us,” said Executive Director, Ghassan Korban. “We are here to work with you.”
Customer Care Payment Plan Details
- No down payment required
- Up to 24 months to spread out repayment of a past due balance
- After 2 consecutive months of missed installments, customer would be notified they are being removed from the plan and at risk for a water shutoff if payment is not received
If a customer remained current in a previous payment plan they will be grandfathered in, otherwise all new payment plans will follow the new payment plan option detailed above
We encourage any customer who is in need of assistance to call our Customer Service Center at 52-water to explore their payment plan options. Again, at this time, we are not shutting off water service, but we do not want our customers to fall behind on their monthly payments.
Also, if you are unsure about the status of your account, or if you have a past due balance that you believe to be under dispute, are awaiting a hearing or have a hardship due to Hurricane Ida, please call 52-WATER or make an appointment at swbno.org to visit one of our Customer Service Centers to confirm the status of your account and explore your payment options moving forward.