Water pressure has dropped across a swath of New Orleans stretching from the 7th Ward to the French Quarter after a 48-inch water main burst at the intersection of Duels and Pauger streets, with crews now scrambling to install a fix that could take days to fully resolve the problem.
Repairs are underway on the break, according to WDSU, which reported that Sewerage and Water Board officials said crews were preparing to install a linestop this week as customers across several New Orleans neighborhoods dealt with low pressure. The linestop is expected to improve pressure, though the utility did not clarify exactly when service would be fully restored, the station reported. An initial estimate put the return of normal pressure at this Friday, November 13.
The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, in its own update, said crews and contractor Boh Bros. continue to make progress on emergency repairs to the 48-inch main at Duels and Pauger. The utility listed lower-than-normal pressure east of St. Bernard Avenue, spanning the Central Business District, the 7th Ward, Tremé and the French Quarter.
Affected Area Grows as Repairs Prove More Extensive
A separate report from Yahoo News said the trouble zone had widened to include all customers east of St. Bernard Avenue, and that SWBNO and Boh Bros. were still working to complete the repairs, which turned out to be more extensive than originally anticipated. The same report put the expected timeline for restored pressure at through next Friday, November 13, matching the SWBNO estimate cited elsewhere.
Despite the disruption, the water remains safe to drink, according to the Sewerage and Water Board, and WDSU's report echoed that the water is safe to drink despite the service interruptions. Yahoo News likewise reported that residents are not expected to lose water service entirely even as pressure stays depressed in parts of the city.
7th Ward Resident Says Problems Predate This Break
Cedric Bickham, who lives near the construction site, told WDSU the intersection near the repair work has been a problem for decades. He and his neighbors have been dealing with street flooding and traffic issues tied to the area long before this particular main gave out, the station reported.
Bickham said he watches the work daily and worries crews may leave the neighborhood torn up once the immediate repair is finished. He's also skeptical that the Sewerage and Water Board is addressing the root of the issue, rather than just patching the latest break, per the same account.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Aging Pipes
SWBNO's own immediate action report noted that recent water-main breaks, including this one, have struck both 30-inch and 48-inch transmission mains. The utility has said it completed four of eight urgent transmission-main repair locations identified in that report, with plans to finish the rest by the end of the year.
The agency has acknowledged that more than one-third of its drinking-water mains are over 100 years old, and that 115 miles of Joint Infrastructure Recovery Roads water-main work completed or underway amounts to just 7% of the entire distribution system. NOLA.com reported that the first three months of 2026 alone brought expansive water and sewer main breaks that flooded streets, damaged roadways and left thousands of residents under boil advisories, with officials blaming the failures on pipes at or near the end of their lifespan.
Earlier breaks this year illustrate the pattern: a 48-inch main burst in two places near Carrollton Avenue and Panola Street in January, creating a sinkhole that swallowed the front end of a parked car, and another 48-inch break near South Claiborne Avenue and Toledano Street in February sent water gushing up through the roadway and flooded several blocks, according to the same NOLA.com timeline. The utility has also previously scheduled planned work on its aging mains, including a 2024 valve closure on a 48-inch transmission main along South Claiborne Avenue that supplements much of the East Bank's water supply.
