Improved Catch Basin Management and Technology Leads to Cleaner New Orleans, Better Oversight NEW ORLEANS – Today, the City of New Orleans’ Department of Public Works (DPW) launched a new online tool that will improve both the accountability and management of the more than 72,000 catch basins citywide. Created with the user experience in mind, the tool enables residents to explore whether their catch basin has been inspected and/or cleaned in the last three years. Look at the updated work on catch basins here. “We know that improved technology and more efficient coordination of City services leads to a cleaner New Orleans. We encourage our residents to utilize this tool and work with us in identifying and helping clean our catch basins, which in turn help prevent street flooding during heavy rain events,” said Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Infrastructure Ramsey Green. The online tool allows DPW Maintenance supervisors to make strategic assignments and send them to “vac truck” crews in the field. Vac truck operators receive the assignments on tablets and are able to address more catch basins in the neighborhood they have been assigned to and more efficiently log their cleaning and inspection data.

There has already been a dramatic increase in the number of catch basins addressed. For example, from Nov. 1, 2017, through Dec. 15, 2017, 289 catch basin cleanings/inspections were completed by the City’s Maintenance division. By comparison, during the same time frame in 2018, there were 866 catch basin cleanings or inspections by the Maintenance division – a 299 percent increase.

Residents can help keep catch basins clear of debris by disposing of leaves and other yard waste properly. Proper yard waste disposal includes placing leaves, sticks and twigs in garbage bags, tying the garbage bag closed, placing the garbage bags in City-issued receptacles and closing the lid of the garbage can.

You can call 311 to report a clogged catch basin. The 311 Customer Service Agent will take down the nearest physical address of the catch basin, and issue you a ticket number. That ticket will then be sent to the Department of Public Works for assessment. # # #