Sewerage & Water Board Update on System Performance During Hurricane Francine

The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) worked diligently overnight to minimize flooding while combating power source failures that led to temporarily decreased drainage and wastewater capacity amid Hurricane Francine. Over the course of the event, New Orleans received between six and seven inches of rain. 

SWBNO experienced the following impacts due to Hurricane Francine:  

DPS 12 in Lakeview experienced an electrical issue around 4:30 p.m., causing the only pump at this station to go offline temporarily.  

• SWBNO brought the pump back online by 6:10 p.m., and it remained online throughout the night and into the morning hours. This allowed the utility to bring down canal levels, assisting with localized street flooding. 

DPS 14 in New Orleans East experienced a loss of Entergy power around 6:08 p.m.  

• The backup generator was online providing power to the two available pumps at this location around 7 p.m.; and DPS 14 continued running on generator power until the generator went down around midnight. 
• In the meantime, DPS 10 and 16 continued to drain New Orleans East via the common canal.  
• Around 4:36 a.m., Entergy power was restored and Pumps 1 and 2 were back online. 

DPS 3, 4, and 7 each temporarily lost one drainage pump (three total) around 6:30 p.m. after Frequency Changer (FC) #3 tripped offline due to an Entergy feeder issue.  

• SWBNO immediately brought additional pumps online at these stations while the Frequency Changer issues were being investigated and addressed. Although the equipment was available again by 8pm, issues with aerial feeders prevented us from sending the power to the stations.
• SWBNO employed additional power sources to power the pumps that were lost.
• A pump issue occurred at DPS 1 in Broadmoor around 8:40pm.
• Other pumps remained online at this station, and an additional pump was also brought online .
• Canal levels continued to rise until around 9:15 p.m., when the pumps that were online were able to pull down the canal levels.
• This pump has since been returned to service on 9/12/2024.

DPS 1, 2, and 6 each temporarily lost two pumps (six pumps total) after Electro Motive Diesels (EMDs) tripped offline around 9:12 p.m. due to issues with an auxiliary generator.  

• The EMDs were used at DPS 6 and DPS 2 between 10:10 and 10:30pm, when additional issues where encountered, causing SWBNO to take them offline. 
• At 11 p.m., SWBNO switched to alternate internal power sources to restore pumping capacity to the affected drainage pumping stations, DPS 1, 2, and 6. 
• The EMD failures caused these stations to run at reduced capacity for roughly two hours. 
• The canal levels at these stations did not rise due to the outages of the EMDs. We monitored the levels, and they stayed steady throughout this timeframe. 

Sewer Pump Stations 

• The sewer pumps at Sewer Pump Station D experienced an electrical malfunction, making them inoperable.  
• SWBNO also experienced a loss of Entergy power at several other stations. The utility is still assessing the situation.  
• Around 8:30 p.m., SWBNO asked customers to conserve water to prevent sewer overflows. 
• SWBNO procured an emergency contract for 16 vacuum trucks which began operations at 5:00 a.m., to pump down wastewater from Station D and transport to the Eastbank wastewater treatment plant.
• The Governor's Office of Homeland Security is providing additional vacuum trucks to support this effort.
• The Army Corps of Engineers is also providing a large sewerage pump to supplement pumping efforts.
• With the additional support from the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and the Army Corps of Engineers, we expect that this will help provide relief to our sewerage system. 
• Due to elevated wastewater system levels, residents and businesses on the East Bank are urged to continue conserving water until further notice.