As St. John the Baptist Parish started thawing out from freezing temperatures, it created a problem on top of a problem.
“I started to receive messages as did the utilities department with pictures of leaks all over,” said parish president Jaclyn Hotard.
From homes to parks, Hotard says those water leaks are a big part of the reason for water outages across the parish. Hotard says the parish is already dealing with higher than normal water consumption levels. Combine that with two recent fires, the parish’s three water output systems can’t keep up with demand.
“We are pulling more water from our system than our system is actually able to treat,” said Hotard.
Wednesday afternoon the parish was forced to shut water off completely in District One for several hours. While some outages are controlled by the parish, others are not. Hotard says there simply isn’t enough pressure, because water is being over consumed or leaking.
“There are a lot of things going on at one time unfortunately that are causing us some problems,” said Hotard.
In neighboring St. James Parish, it’s a similar story, but no outages yet.
“If they would conserve water we’d be in good shape,” said parish director of operations Rick Webre.
Tuesday Webre told Eyewitness News freezing temperatures caused a 40 percent increase in water demand from things like dripping faucets and filling bathtubs.
Wednesday morning, leaks at homes and businesses started adding to the problem.
We made a few adjustments and right now we’re just holding our own,” said Webre.
As of Wednesday afternoon, supply levels were critical, and outages were still a possibility. Both Webre and Hotard are asking folks to be mindful of water usage and not waste it.
“We don’t need to run that water, that drip that everyone does, we don’t need to do that anymore. If it’s not an emergency, please conserve water as much as possible,” said Hotard.
Folks in St. John Parish are asked to call 911 if you see a water leak. There will be someone to dispatch utility workers if needed. If you have a water outage or a drop in pressure, you’ll be under a boil water advisory for 48 hours.