Aboil water advisory has been issued for around 250,000 Americans amid a drop in water pressure utility officials are blaming on a floating Mylar balloon.
The advisory was issued by the Sewerage and Water Board for the entire east bank of New Orleans and Algiers Point after a sudden drop in water pressure was reported on Tuesday at around 7 p.m.
“Water pressures in these areas fell below 20 pounds per square inch (psi) due to power failure at the Carrollton Water Treatment plant. The Algiers Water Treatment plant was also briefly affected by this power outage,” the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board said.
The cause of the power failure is still being investigated. However, Entergy New Orleans said the cause of the outage was a floating metallic balloon that drifted into a power line.
“A Mylar balloon contacted a power line near the Carrollton (water treatment) plant at approximately 7 p.m., which created a very brief power fluctuation — causing pumps to be tripped offline,” an Entergy New Orleans spokesman said in an email to Fox 8.
“SWBNO crews were able to switch over to backup power and get additional pumps online, but not before the water pressure fell below the threshold for issuing a precautionary boil water advisory.”
