Press Releases

New Orleans, LA - Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) closely monitors significant weather events when forecasted. As extreme winter weather is anticipated, SWBNO’s focus is to ensure that we have the power capacity, personnel, and operational strategies to manage the anticipated inclement weather.  
 
We are communicating with our partners at the City of New Orleans, NOLA Ready, Entergy and the National Weather Service to ensure a coordinated response. Our teams closely monitor the evolving weather conditions, and we encourage residents to remain weather aware. For real-time updates, follow our partners at @NWSNew Orleans and @NOLAReady on Twitter or text NOLAREADY to 77295.  

 
Our Response To Winter Weather 

• Plan for additional storage of chemicals for water purification and fuel for vehicles 
• Prepare for power outages by checking standby generators  
• Check insulation on piping at our facilities, including drainage pump stations and sewer pump stations. If necessary, open valves if needed to maintain slow water flow, or shut off non-essential water flow to any equipment.  
• Power Operations. Our new frequency changer, SFC3, will be used for this event. Turbines 5 and 6 are available for use, with Turbine 4 in a backup capacity.
• We have also exercised key generators to ensure they are ready to run, if needed.  
• We have scheduled additional essential employees to work through this potential weather event until the weather conditions no longer affect our area.  

Emergency Hotline Available 

Our Emergency Hotline remains staffed and available 24/7. Customers can report leaks and other water-related emergencies by calling 52-WATER.  

Stay Prepared and Weather Aware   

Residents are advised to protect their pipes ahead of freezing temperatures.  To help prevent frozen pipes, run a spaghetti-thin trickle of water from the one faucet farthest away from your water meter when temperatures approach 32 degrees. Please run just a thin trickle. If residents across the city run more than that, it can contribute to a water pressure drop resulting in a possible boil water advisory.

We have been in active coordination with the Dept. of Public Works and New Orleans Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Continue to follow @NOLAReady for updates and alerts. 

 
Major Drainage Pumps: 88 of 93 Major Drainage Pumps Available for Use  

We currently have 78.6MW of 25-hertz power available to manage storm-related demands, including 22MW of 25-hertz power from SFC3. 

• The EMDs are currently not available due to electrical configuration work related to the Power Complex.  
• Turbine 4 is for emergency use only, in a backup capacity.

For the full pumping and power report, please visit our Pumping and Power Dashboard at https://www.swbno.org/Projects/PumpingandPower.   

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