New Orleans Water Hammer Abatement

Hurricane Katrina left the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans with significant water treatment and conveyance issues, leading to a long series of “boil your drinking water” mandates for residents. FEMA funded efforts to tighten the system’s leaking pipes – 70 percent of treated water pipes leaked – but this had the unintended consequences of creating pressure surges from power outages that caused equipment-damaging water hammer effects. Stanley Consultants was hired to address the problems and proposed a design that would improve lift stations by installing refurbished pumps and new valves and meters. Additionally, two new 2-million-gallon tanks would back-pressure the system, allowing up to 40 minutes to get power back online and pumps operating again, thereby significantly reducing both the water hammer effects and the water boil mandates. The new system has withstood several significant weather events and power outages, giving residents more faith in their clean water supply.