Reverse osmosis machinery delivered to Plaquemines Parish - WDSU New Orleans

Reverse osmosis machinery delivered to Plaquemines Parish

A new tool was delivered on Thursday to help ease the impact of saltwater intrusion in Plaquemines Parish.

Reverse osmosis and microfiltration machinery was just dropped off at the Pointe a la Hache treatment plant to help make the water usable and drinkable again.

"You have the reverse osmosis machine, plus you have a microfiltration machine as well. Reverse osmosis would work if we were pulling water say, from the Gulf of Mexico or out in the Carribean, where you're dealing with clean water. We have to also do a microfiltration, because we're pulling water out of the Mississippi River. It's very gritty, very sandy, dirty. Plus, many chemicals that are also in that water, so it has to go through that process first and then it's moved over to the reverse osmosis, which that pulls out the salinity in the water, and then it's put through our plants," parish president Keith Hinkley said.

It is an important step because several communities in Plaquemines are under water advisories, with distribution sites continuing to hand out bottled water.

The newest tool comes as more funding is now freed up, with the approval of a federal emergency declaration.

The parish president said it will be helpful for projects like the machinery already in the works to deal with saltwater, and any others that may be needed in the future.

"It's a semi sigh of relief. There's no time to sit back and relax right now, but at least it gives you a comfort zone knowing that you have help and that our parish has help above and beyond the parish itself, the state. Now we have the federal government on our side," Hinkley said.

We are told the first delivery of the reverse osmosis and microfiltration machines will take a few days to get up and running.