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I New Orleans Faces Long
<br /> Road to Recovery _,..„,,,,,,,,,„,,,,,A,,,,,,,,,,,,,-.,,,,,„_,,,,„.i•,,,,,
<br /> ,,,
<br /> -,
<br /> li r,i
<br /> Even after the city of .= '' - ;'' '
<br /> New Orleans is pumped 3 ' , Y' ,� ';`au; f :',` t.
<br /> I dry it could be � rtr;< . ry-� r.=
<br /> months before the
<br /> drinlung water, ; ie�t *r
<br /> 1 - -'-'1'.=.;•, t
<br /> wastewater and ''t "°'` ' l 1 ' , " ' �
<br /> *;
<br /> stormwater systems , '''-,1`` �, e.,
<br /> arc fully operational, -.'s 1....rt.,' l e i}. !.'"t'
<br /> I
<br /> according to experts .''•jT"`y' -. ‘,„,
<br /> � - .-_,
<br /> " +,`..i• ..- ,a��E'' <' "Y
<br /> who have experience . '.,, : .�' .
<br /> with the system a y : • ' _ -'.,"' _ .' T r _
<br /> Several of the }
<br /> 4� / `.
<br /> Several
<br /> stormwater ,,, :I' . , yr ,,''.4t
<br /> '
<br /> stations �.-
<br /> pumping 3 _ �,•� :or ,-,Ir�.
<br /> and the East Bank i ,A', . Al `
<br /> I
<br /> wastewater plant • ,s i-' Allir
<br /> �x ere flooded fol- `" ' • . �:� 1. V ,
<br /> lowing the passage Before Hurricane Katrina,the New Orleans stormwoter system could'pump more than 1 billion gallons
<br /> ' of Hurricane Katrina. of water on hour.
<br /> The East Bank drink
<br /> ing water plant and the city's power generation facilities also saw some flood waters, although
<br /> I water damage was relatively light. The West Bank drinking water and wastewater plants lost
<br /> )ower and suffered some wind damage, but were not flooded
<br /> In the distribution/collection systems,there was significant damage to the piping networks
<br /> It and lift station systems The New Orleans Sewerage &Water Board's (S&WB) facilities shop,
<br /> where equipment and supplies are stored, was also
<br /> ,, i= .s: }�„ "; ?< flooded, according tosources
<br /> J;•.,'•- ,l '✓nom,., , p'`''-'. 2
<br /> ;,,'`:1,f.- :;L r-f-,••'- !ittif,;*'''i;A°-=';',=-'''-f:' '•,4„;;;', The water board s staff was not spared when
<br /> I
<br /> ..` `'`� • A • y s �: floodwaters engulfed the city Of the board's 1200
<br /> 1 : '~J � - employees, some 300 were on duty during the
<br /> storm and all survived Many of those not on duty
<br /> I -- `— Joined the wave of evacuees who left the city and
<br /> are now "scattered to the winds," according to
<br /> one source.
<br /> Like the rest of New Orleans, the East Side
<br /> I
<br /> The East Bank wastewater facility in New Orleans was flooded wastewater facility is essentially located in a bowl
<br /> by about 14 feet of water surrounded,by levies. After the storm, that bowl
<br /> was filled with about 14 feet of contaminated
<br /> I water, according to David Smith,Area Vice President for Veolia Water North America—South.
<br /> Veolia has operated the wastewater treatment plants in New Orleans since 1992.
<br /> "The whole plant is under water,"Smith said in an interview on Sept 12. "The one story
<br /> I buildings are completely submerged, including all clarifiers and the administration building.
<br /> Basically we have a complete submergence of all mechanical and electrical systems."
<br /> The four staff members on duty at the plant initially took shelter in a third-floor control
<br /> room in the sludge incinerator building.
<br /> I
<br /> "During the storm event the building started to come apart and blew out the windows
<br /> in the operations control room," Smith said "They relocated to fourth floor but then the wind
<br /> started to blow off the roof. They went down to the second floor restroom which was concrete
<br /> III and hunkered down to wait out the storm "
<br /> The operators were airlifted to safety on Aug 31.
<br /> The 99-year-old Carrollton Water Purification Plant saw minor flooding and also suffered
<br /> wind damage that led to a fire during the storm. A 50 inch water main, one of six huge distribu-
<br /> tion pipes leaving the plant,ruptured during the storm.
<br /> See COVER FEATURE continued on page 28
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