Sewerage, Water, and Drainage System

While the city council changed regulations to improve sanitation of the city through regulation of cisterns, privies, and wells, it was clear that these changes fell short of a municipal sewerage and water system. At the same time, the threat of standing water to public health was also becoming clear, and so solving street drainage became a central issue as well. In 1896, the City of New Orleans formed the New Orleans Drainage Commission to create a plan to connect all houses to sewer and water. In 1899, the Louisiana Legislature created the Sewerage and Water Board. By 1903, the Drainage Commission and the Sewerage and Water Board combined, retaining the name: Sewerage and Water Board. 

The city broke ground in 1899, and in 1906, the Daily Picayune reported the first sewer connection. As the announcement describes, the first household to connect to the municipal sewer system was Major H.M. Harrod, a head Sewer and Water Board Engineer. At first, patrons had to apply to connect and pay a fee. Few households elected to do so, both because of the cost, and also because many refused to trust the new technological advance as a sanitary improvement. Many still believed in "miasmas", or vapors that would exude from putrid conditions, and believed further that connecting to a sewer system would create a giant miasma that could permeate into their household through their house connection. 

Click between the Sewerage and Water Board Plans to see the city's historical progress

Despite the initial reservation, the city transitioned to connecting residents free of charge, and even fining those land owners who refused to comply. These policies led to a rapid escalation of house connections. In fact, by 1914, seventy percent of the city had municipal plumbing.

The Sewerage and Water Board continued to connect the remaining 30 percent of the city through the 1940s. This process was cumulative, and as the existing footprint of the city received proper drainage, engineers were able to expand its footprint to lower-lying areas than it had been able to do before municipal drainage made this possible.

Construction operations of New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board series, Courtesy of the Historic New Orleans Collection. 

The new improved technology ended the era of privies, wells, and cisterns. Instead, waste water was routed directly from houses and businesses to under the modern street grid. It was a tremendous achievement, as New Orleans was the first city in the United States after Chicago to implement this modern comprehensive sewerage, water, and drainage system.