Shreveport officials respond to orders from state health department to repair water system

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – Shreveport’s Water & Sewerage Department has received an order from the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) to make immediate repairs to the city’s drinking water system.

This comes after a “Sanitary Survey” was performed back in September of 2021. Remedial actions are to include repairs to water storage tanks and emergency generators.

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The city issued a response to this order from LDH Wednesday, Feb. 5, saying, in part, they’ve been “proactive” in addressing the cited deficiencies despite the significant nature of the repairs. The city says after the 2021 survey, officials told LDH that it would take more than 90 days to make the necessary repairs due to the complexity and scope of the work required. Since then, the city says it has maintained communication with LDH, providing quarterly updates on the progress.

City officials say a number of the required actions in the order are already underway as part of existing projects. One of these projects is the Water Tank Improvement Project, which includes repairs to all active elevated water towers.

Meanwhile, city officials say funding is still pending for a project involving an emergency generator for the booster pump station that serves the southeast portion of the city.

The city says one of the main challenges in carrying out these repairs in making sure water service continues uninterrupted. Improvements to the water storage tank can only be made during times of low demand, the city says. These times are typically during winter months, the city explains. Water department staff members have done operational testing to find out the impact of taking each tank offline since the tanks are critical for maintaining water pressure and fire protection. The city says repairs have to be carefully scheduled to minimize disruptions.

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The city says despite all this, it remains committed to improving the drinking water system. More than $10 million has been allocated to address the deficiencies in the 2021 survey, the city says. This is in addition to the $40 million worth of projects included in the 2024 General Obligation Bonds, the city says.

In its news release sent out Wednesday, the city maintains the issues identified by LDH do not pose an immediate health threat to the public. The city says it will take a number of years to fix all the issues. All of the projects have been laid out and are funded, the city says, thanks in part to a grant from FEMA.

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