The Boil Order Decade

It's such a routine event at this point, we'd barely notice were it not for the recent flooding.

The Sewerage & Water Board has reversed course from earlier Wednesday morning (Sept. 20) and issued a precautionary boil water advisory for the east bank of New Orleans.

A "power fluctuation" at a Sewerage & Water Board power plant was responsible for low water pressure throughout the city, officials said.

The mayor's office, which now handles communications for the Sewerage & Water Board, had initially said the boil water advisory was not being issued "at this time" and that water pressure had been restored as of of 8:07 a.m.

At 8:09 a.m., the city's NOLA Ready website posted an update saying the boil water advisory was being issued. More details are coming, according to a  subsequent statement from the mayor's office.

Meanwhile, the everlasting turbine repair job just got another bump. 

The Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans plans to spend another $254,000 on a massive, multi-million contract to rebuild a badly damaged electrical turbine at its Carrollton power plant.

The extra money is the 15th time the price has increased on the refurbishment of Turbine 4, a repair job that has stretched on for more than five years. That raised questions at the board's finance committee meeting Monday (Sept. 18).

"Five years is a little bit of a stretch," said Alan Arnold, a board member attending Monday's committee meeting.