Arceneaux says taste, odor problems in Shreveport’s water mostly resolved

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux gave an update on the status of the city’s water during his weekly visit to our station.

For the past year, the city of Shreveport’s water and sewerage has faced several issues with the quality of water, including elevated manganese levels and an unexpected algae bloom, which resulted in a strange taste and odor.

Mayor Tom Arceneaux says improvements have been made.

“The taste and odor issue, I believe, is largely resolved,” Arceneaux said. “We’re cleaning out the sediment ponds. One of the ways that we get rid of algae, manganese, and those kinds of things is that we have sediment ponds. They get clogged up, and you have to clean them. We’re looking at automated systems to do that, although that has a really hefty price tag, so we’re probably not going to do that in the next year or two. I think we’re making great progress.”

The mayor says the interim director of water and sewerage, Brandon Sneed, has more than 20 years of experience with the department, and they’re confident he can continue to make improvements.