Press Releases

The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans’ (SWBNO) Turbine No. 4 experienced a mechanical failure this morning. Teams are working on diagnosing and repairing the turbine, but we anticipate it will remain out of service until further notice. SWBNO Operations is utilizing Frequency Converters and the 3 back-up generators (EMD’s) to distribute power amongst the various Drainage Pumping Stations (DPS's) to continue pumping down canal levels which is needed to drain the streets.

With the break in the weather forecast, Operations has pumped down the canals to normal levels for all of the DPS’s. We will continue to pump down the canals throughout the day to provide additional storage capacity.

Residents should remain weather aware. Without Turbines 4 and 5 available, any intense rain may cause street flooding in parts of the city that depend on the 25 Hz pumps. Turbine 4 was built in 1915 and Turbine 5 was built in 1958.

Turbine 5 has been down since November with a mechanical issue that we have been working on and anticipate will return to service within 10 days.

• See our full Pumping and Power Report here.

Drainage Pumping Stations that utilize solely 25Hz power are 2, 3 and 12. Stations that use both 25 Hz and 60 Hz power are 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Using back-up power and generators, we are currently able to supply about 24 megawatts of 25 Hz power, which is about half of the power needed to operate the system at full capacity.

• See a map of our Drainage Pumping System here.

Because of this power deficit, our Operations Team will strategically send back-up power to stations that will lower canal levels for street flooding to go down. Again, with Turbines 4 and 5 down, high intensity rain may cause localized street flooding in some areas. SWBNO Teams are monitoring the weather closely and we advise our residents to stay weather aware. Follow @NOLAReady for updates or text NOLAREADY to 77295.