Orleans County, Louisiana: drinking water report. Orleans Parish (coterminous with the city of New Orleans) draws its drinking water primarily from the…
Orleans Parish (coterminous with the city of New Orleans) draws its drinking water primarily from the Mississippi River through the Carrollton and Algiers treatment plants operated by the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans. The river supplies roughly 250,000 connections across neighborhoods from the French Quarter and Garden District to Gentilly, Lakeview, and the Lower Ninth Ward. This single-source dependency creates unique vulnerabilities for a major American city.
The Mississippi River at New Orleans carries the accumulated agricultural, industrial, and municipal discharges of 31 states and two Canadian provinces. Testing through EPA's Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule has repeatedly detected PFAS compounds in New Orleans drinking water, including PFOA and PFOS above health advisory levels. The river's sediment load and upstream industrial contamination mean treatment plants face constant pressure to address not just legacy contaminants but emerging compounds from fertilizer runoff, pharmaceutical residues, and petrochemical facilities dotting Louisiana's River Parishes.
Lead remains a persistent concern in Orleans Parish due to the age of housing stock and distribution infrastructure. While the Sewerage and Water Board has accelerated lead service line replacement following the 2015 national focus on Flint, thousands of pre-1986 connections remain. Testing shows elevated lead levels in areas with older housing, particularly in Central City, Tremé, and parts of Mid-City where galvanized pipes and lead goosenecks were standard through the mid-20th century. The problem compounds during periods of low water pressure or main breaks, which remain frequent due to deferred infrastructure maintenance.
Disinfection byproducts present an ongoing challenge. The high organic content in Mississippi River water requires aggressive chlorine treatment, which produces trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids. Total trihalomethane levels in the distribution system have periodically approached or exceeded Maximum Contaminant Levels, particularly in neighborhoods farthest from treatment plants where water residence time increases. The Sewerage and Water Board has struggled to balance effective disinfection against byproduct formation while managing an aging pipe network that loses an estimated 50 percent of treated water to leaks.
If you live in New Orleans or surrounding Orleans Parish neighborhoods, testing your tap water provides the most accurate picture of what reaches your home, especially in older buildings where building plumbing contributes as much risk as the distribution system itself. Point-of-use filtration addresses both source water contaminants like PFAS and distribution system issues like lead and disinfection byproducts. Check your water for current contamination data specific to your address, review our water filter guide for systems that address Mississippi River source water concerns, read the detailed report for New Orleans testing history, and visit the Louisiana state page for broader context on drinking water challenges across the state.