City Says Sewage in the Red Should Have No Adverse Impact

Main problems continue to force sewage into the Red Red.  A problem with the Stoner Water Main is causing major difficulties. According to the Department of Water and Sewer, residents should avoid using Bayou Pierre, Anderson Bayou and the Red River near the Stoner boat launch because of sewage in those waterways. Officials say it will take about  week to repair the Stoner main, but while those are underway raw sewage will be pumped directly into the Red near the Stoner launch. DOWAS says the move should have no adverse impact on the public.

Here's the latest info in a release from Mayor Adrian Perkins Communications Manager, Ben Riggs:

"The current Red River Hydrograph shows over 87,000 cubic feet of water passing by per second, which is approximately 56 billion gallons per day. The amount of sewer being released to the Red River accounts for less than 0.01% of the stream flow. As a result, the fecal coliform count goes from 32,000 at the Stoner Boat Launch down to 1,500 at the Shreveport-Barksdale bridge, and by time it reaches the Jimmy Davis Bridge, it is practically undetectable from background.

The backups to smaller bodies of water are being isolated and returned to the system where possible. When this is not possible, we are providing as much aeration to the water bodies as possible, mainly through introducing water from flowing hydrants to the smaller water bodies. This helps with the natural processes in these waterbodies that naturally break down the wastes.  The rains today will also assist to naturally aerate and dilute the waste in the smaller water bodies.  Additionally, for the areas we are running multiple vac-trucks around the clock removing sewer from areas where overflows are occurring and trucking it directly to our waste treatment plant."