NEW ORLEANS — More than half of the water that leaves the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board treatment plants may be seeping into the ground rather than going to homes.
The New Orleans Advocate reports that a consultant hired to study problems at the S&WB found that leaks could account for 82 million gallons of water per day - around 55 percent of the water the utility produces.
Colorado-based consulting firm Freeman LLC took a look at the agency's losses from 2008 to 2017.
The New Orleans Advocate's Jeff Adelson reports that the wasted water, among the millions of other gallons for hydrants and other public uses, accounts for almost 20 percent of the cost of running the city's water system.
“The rate of water loss due to our aging infrastructure is unacceptable,” S&WB Executive Director Ghassan Korban said in a statement to the Advocate.
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WWL-TV reporter Meghan Kee can be reached at mkee@wwltv.com;