BACKGROUND

New Orleans is a unique city surrounded by several waterways and wetlands, and the Mississippi River winds throughout its landscape. The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) was created in 1903 to consolidate drainage, water, and sewerage programs under one agency for efficient operations.

The sanitary sewer system is gravity-based, consisting of 1,450 miles of lateral and trunk sewers, and 82 pump/lift stations. There are two primary treatment facilities, the West Bank plant with capacity for 20 million gallons of water per day (MGD) and the East Bank plant with a capacity of 122 MGD.

The drainage system was designed around the turn of the 20th century and much of its original infrastructure is still in use. The drainage system comprises more than 68,000 catch basins, 1,500 miles of lateral underground drainage pipes, 200 miles of open and underground canals and 120 pumps housed in 24 drainage pump stations (DPS).

SUMMARY

Realizing success with smart technology at the Fairgrounds, SWBNO employed the same satellite-based monitoring devices in 2023 for a regulatory compliance issue at the city’s Carrollton Water Plant (CWP). Data is collected and analyzed at the CWP, helping SWBNO better understand the flows within the discharge path to the Monticello Canal. Four devices monitor three areas that converge at the Monticello Canal, then flow into the 17th Street Canal, which flows into Lake Pontchartrain.

The LPDES permit requires that flow from Outfall 002 be reported to the LDEQ. Outfall 002 has multiple pipes of varied sizes discharging water sources other than the authorized cooling water from Turbine No. 5. To accurately report to LDEQ, SWBNO can report all the sources (raw water with coagulants and processed water) and the amount of water discharged into the MS4 from SWBNO’s CWP.

SmartCover solutions utilized by SWBNO include SmartFloeTM for flow measurement and reporting and is more flexible than AV meters, SmartRainTM integrates rain data using Doppler radar and rain gauges for level and flow reports. The data integration helps SWBNO have a comprehensive understanding of how rain affects the entire sewer collection system. SWBNO uses SmartRainTM to monitor the city’s 24 pump stations connected to the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, and SmartTideTM integrates tidal data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to identify emergent issues.

SWBNO is planning for expansion of its collection system monitoring program by 2025 by implementing more smart technology at key locations throughout Orleans Parish.

Interested in finding out how our SmartCover solutions can work for you? Reach out to sales@smartcoversystems.com or call (855) 291-1980.