as City Hall asserts more control<\/a> of the S&WB.<\/p>\nDistrict A Councilmember Aimee McCarron said the council eventually could consider rate hikes, after an audit of S&WB spending and a rate study outlining revenue needs. But any consideration of a rate increase will be complicated by the fact the S&WB can’t even hold on to most of the water it makes, she said.<\/p>\n
![\"080926](\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you structure a rate when we have so much loss? How do you say to someone that you have to pay this certain amount, but their usage compared to the amount we’re losing is insignificant?\u201d McCarron said.<\/p>\n
$8 billion price tag<\/p>\n
The water system needs roughly $8 billion for repairs and upgrades for treatment plants, water mains and service lines, according to S&WB estimates. That scale of work typically requires bond financing, which is secured by rate revenue.<\/p>\n
But the S&WB\u2019s roughly $115 million in annual rate revenue is consumed by the cost of treating, storing and pumping water to 140,000 customers, according to a 2024 consultant study. That leaves nothing to secure bonds.<\/p>\n
S&WB Executive Director Randy Hayman has pointed out in community meetings that Philadelphia \u2013 whose water system he ran for six years before coming to New Orleans a year ago \u2013 replaces water mains every year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have the ability and the funding to replace a certain amount of mileage of the drinking water pipe,\u201d Hayman said at a community meeting in Lakeview on July 8. \u201cWe don’t have the funding to do that routinely.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sewerage & Water Board Executive Director Randy Hayman, center, is joined by his leadership team as they take part in a briefing at New Orleans City Hall on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)<\/p>\n
PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER<\/p>\n
In a statement, S&WB officials said \u201cthe high rate of water loss is a symptom of decades of underinvestment in our underground infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAddressing this challenge requires sustained funding to support a long-term capital improvement program focused on replacing aging water mains and modernizing our distribution system,\u201d officials said.<\/p>\n
City officials acknowledge funding constraints have led to severely degraded infrastructure, but they also say opaque budgeting and capital planning have confused the public over what the S&WB would do with additional funding.<\/p>\n
The council and Moreno administration on Thursday passed new policies for the S&WB, under the authority of a new state law giving City Hall much greater control over the utility\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n
One of the new policies will require council approval of budgets and capital plans. The council will also scrutinize professional service agreements, executive contracts and communications budgets, while the Louisiana Legislative Auditor is being asked to conduct a special audit of all S&WB spending.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A section of South Carrollton Avenue is closed while the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans works to repair a water main on the 1600 block of South Carrollton Avenue in New Orleans, Wednesday, July 22, 2026.<\/p>\n
STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no\u00a0idea what is really going on, what’s part of the plan and what’s not,\u201d said Andrew Tuozzolo, special counsel to Moreno, addressing the council on July 30.<\/p>\n
Generally speaking, city officials want to align the standalone utility more closely with City Hall operations, perhaps even converting it into a city a department. How that shapes up will evolve over time, but, in the near term, Tuozzolo said merging the S&WB and city capital budgets will give the S&WB access to the city\u2019s bonding capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an integrated operation to keep people dry and the water flowing through the pipes,\u201d Tuozzolo said in an interview. \u201cThat’s a huge opportunity. Hundreds of millions of dollars of bonding opportunity for us to do infrastructure work that the city needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Extreme loss<\/p>\n
All municipal water systems lose at least some treated water through leaky pipes. But new research shows how extraordinary the S&WB loss rate is compared to other water utilities.<\/p>\n
Bluefield Research, in a report last year, estimated U.S. water systems lose about 20% of the water they produce. The S&WB lost 76% of its treated water in the first six months of this year, according to quarterly reports to the City Council.<\/p>\n
A series of major water main ruptures earlier this year may have caused the rate to tick up a bit, but the S&WB average loss rate over the last decade is more than 70%, according to its financial reports.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Water leaking from a second hole in a sewer main in the St. Roch neighborhood, before it was repaired.\u00a0(Photo courtesy of New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board)\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the cost of treating water has spiked in recent years, S&WB financial reports show. That means the cost of waste is also increasing. The 73% of water lost in 2015 cost $7.5 million to produce. The S&WB lost about the same amount of water in 2024, but the cost of treating it doubled.<\/p>\n
Bluefield analyst Megan Bondar, who reviewed hundreds of water systems to estimate the national average last year, said the S&WB\u2019s loss rate \u201cis among the highest, if not the highest\u201d she has encountered.<\/p>\n
Some in the industry prefer a different measure, known as the \u201cinfrastructure leakage index,\u201d because it more precisely assesses pipe conditions. A higher index indicates a leakier system, and most water systems have a leakage index below six, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.<\/p>\n
The S&WB leakage index is 34, according to its recently completed Water Quality Master Plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis ILI score really emphasizes the extreme volume of physical losses in New Orleans,\u201d Bondar said in an email.<\/p>\n
Billions of gallons of treated water leaking through pipes make up most of the S&WB\u2019s loss rate. But a portion \u2013 it\u2019s not clear how much, exactly \u2013 is water the S&WB gives away to City Hall and public schools, along with the Audubon Zoo, City Park and New Orleans Museum of Art under a decades-old state law.<\/p>\n
Free water made up about 15% of the S&WB water loss in 2022, according to an Office of Inspector General report. Public records requests for more recent documentation of free water volumes have been outstanding since early June.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Workers examine the original break in a 60-inch sewer force main in the St. Roch neighborhood.\u00a0(Photo courtesy of New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board)\u00a0<\/p>\n
PHOTO FROM NEW ORLEANS SEWERAGE & WATER BOARD<\/p>\n
Most utilities receive some type of compensation for the water they provide to public agencies, according to Ann Bui, senior managing director at Black & Veatch, a national consulting firm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe concept is not to have free water. It does cost money to not only get that water, but also to treat it and deliver it to you,\u201d Bui said.<\/p>\n
The rate challenge<\/p>\n
New Orleans water rates haven\u2019t changed since 2020, even as production costs have increased.<\/p>\n
Water rates should increase some amount every year to keep up with operating and capital costs, said Bui of Black & Veatch. Failing to increase rates could risk \u201cstoppage of flow, simply because the infrastructure is broken,\u201d she said, discussing the industry in general.<\/p>\n
But S&WB rates are already relatively high even without any recent increases. A 2024 rate study for the S&WB, completed by Black & Veatch, found New Orleans with higher rates than nine peer jurisdictions.<\/p>\n
New Orleans rates tripled those in Jefferson Parish and nearly doubled Baton Rouge, according to the study.<\/p>\n
Another Black & Veatch report in 2021, which looked at the industry overall and wasn\u2019t commissioned by the S&WB, found New Orleans with the least affordable water rates in the country when considering local income.<\/p>\n
The S&WB said the rates reflect what it costs to produce and distribute water.<\/p>\n
\u201cCosts of services is the determining factor in rate making,\u201d S&WB officials said in their statement.<\/p>\n
Despite the relatively high existing rates, the Black & Veatch rate study recommended 7% annual increases over five years because the S&WB lacks revenue for capital financing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a saying in the water industry, which is that the cheapest source of water is the water you don’t use,\u201d Bui said. \u201cBasically, it means that if you can reduce your water loss, then water becomes cheaper.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New Orleans tap water system is stuck in a quagmire. The Sewerage & Water Board spends millions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,8803,79],"class_list":["post-808242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-hardwall","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}