NEW ORLEANS — According to a recent estimate, more than half of the residential customers in New Orleans have lead pipes connecting their homes to the city’s water system.
Friday, the Sewerage and Water Board launched the city’s first-ever water service line material inventory.
That will help determine which pipes need to be removed and replaced over the next 10 years.
“We’re targeting, obviously lead and galvanized pipes, lead being the main concern because it poses a threat to specific populations – children under six – that are most vulnerable,” SWBNO Executive Director Ghassan Korban said.
Lead expert and LSU Health Dr. Adrienne Katner told WWL Louisiana in a previous story, even the lowest amounts of lead exposure can threaten the development of a child’s brain.
“You’re going to see problems with attention deficit disorder,” Katner said. “You could see learning disabilities; they may just be challenged in terms of having impulse control problems.”
The utility will soon begin removing as many as 300 water lines leading to schools and daycare centers.
According to Korban, that’s only a fraction of the lead pipes in the city.
“Unfortunately, in our city, we didn’t stop using lead until it was really banned in 1986,” Korban said. “Other cities may have stopped much earlier on their own.”
Customers can now search a map on the SWBNO website to check whether their water lines are lead, non-lead, galvanized, or unknown.
The map is expected to be updated as more pipes are identified.
“Obviously, if it’s lead, that’s the top priority in replacing those,” Korban said.
The SWBNO has already secured $86 million from the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water fund to begin the lead pipe replacement program.
That’s just 10 percent of the overall cost of the initiative.
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