Residents across Algiers are being told to boil their water until test results come back later today after a drop in water pressure yesterday. Some residents took to social media with concerns about finding out about it after consuming tap water or giving it to a small child.
One medical expert says the caution may be over-abundant.
"Erring on the side of caution and erring on the side of common sense are two different things," saidpublic health advocate Dr. Brobson Lutz.
Dr. says he's never been able to find any instance of potable water contamination after a brief drop in water pressure.
"I just would like to see the data that supports the state's recommendation of boiling water based on these transient drops," he said. "I cannot find, and I have looked and looked and looked, I cannot find one single incident in the western world of a transient fall in water pressure in a community like New Orleans being associated with any...water-borne illness."
Lutz says it would take much longer for contaminants to ooze into water mains than during the brief interruptions that have become common in New Orleans.