BELLE CHASSE, La. — A restaurant in Belle Chasse says they're preparing for the saltwater wedge to effect them. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, we need about 10 inches of rain in the Mississippi River valley to get enough of a flow to push the wedge back out.
The New Orleans Sewage and Water Board says not to panic. Our water is safe to drink.
El Paso in Belle Chase is preparing for the saltwater wedge to reach their area. Brandie Walls, a server at the restaurant, told Eyewitness News, "We're having to get water shipped in so we have other options for the customers to drink, and then when we prepare food we have gallons of water coming in for that."
While the wedge hasn’t reached Belle Chase yet, the restaurant is getting a water delivery on Thursday. Walls said, "This is the first time I have ever dealt with this here."
According to Steve Nelson, Deputy General Superintendent of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, the wedge is expected to hit the city by late October, but that’s dependent on rain.
Nelson reassured people, saying, "Be calm, be collected. We are working on options to be sure that we can dilute our water, and we're going to continue to provide water service."
According to Nelson, barge plans and reverse osmosis are good options for Algiers but not for the Carrolton water plant. He said, "That plant treats between 130 and 150 million gallons of water a day. So we do have some options there that we're exploring. But barging is one that would just be a little too technically difficult."
He says the focus is now getting water from upriver where the water isn't inundated with salt water and then pushing it down from the parishes above the city, But that's a huge job.
"We're gonna need a decision from the federal government here probably by the end of the week in order to be able to do something."
"It would require a lot of capacity in terms of pumps and piping."
The Army Corps of Engineers estimates the wedge will be to Belle Chasse by October 13, New Orleans/Algiers by October 22, Gretna by October 24, West Jefferson by October 25, New Orleans/Carrollton intake by October 28 and East Jefferson by the 29.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.