NEW ORLEANS — The Sewerage & Water Board’s new map that show the age of New Orleans’ water pipes is a real eye-opener.
That’s the topic of this week’s Commentary by Eyewitness News Political Analyst and Gambit columnist Clancy DuBos.
I’m 64-years-old, but I’m still younger than most of New Orleans’ water mains. That’s bad news on both counts.
The S&WB’s new map of the city’s water mains shows the vast majority of them are close to a century old, or older. The life expectancy of water mains is 75 to 100 years.
That means New Orleans probably needs to replace more than half of its more than 15 hundred miles of water mains.
This underscores the significance of Mayor Cantrell’s push to get more money for infrastructure. If state lawmakers and voters agree, New Orleans will get more than $200 million for infrastructure in the next five years.
That may be a drop in the bucket, but at least it’s a start.