Baptisms, Laundromats Complicated By Louisiana Water Crisis

The water crisis in Louisiana is taking a toll on baptisms, laundromats, and other normal aspects of daily life.

In the town of St. Joseph, turning on the tap means “the entire periodic table of elements can come pouring out into your glass,” as one Esquire writer put it. Lead contamination is among the most concerning parts of the problem.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a public health emergency last month in the town of St. Joseph. He signed a proclamation alerting the town of its emergency status and ordered water tests at every home in the town within a month. The Louisiana Health Department urged residents to find an alternate source for drinking water. The department said the advice came “out of an abundance of caution.”

The Louisiana National Guard began bringing drinking water into the town this month. “At the request of Governor John Bel Edwards, [the Guard] has delivered 69,000 one-liter bottles of water to the town of St. Joseph. The Guard brought the water [on January 12]. They also made a deliver back on January 5th,” the Louisiana National Guard Public Affairs Office reported.

Residents are warned not to drink or bathe in the water, reports said. As locals try to cope with the circumstances, the problem is affecting their daily lives. Baptisms, for instance, are more complicated than usual.

“Pastor Donald Scott, one of the volunteers from the town’s churches ... said he has suspended baptisms at his Oneonta Baptist Church until he can work out a source to provide clean water. Celebrants’ heads are plunged fully underwater by the minister as part of the ceremony,” The Advocate reported.

The crisis has also forced laundromat users to seek out businesses in other towns. “The system over the years has been so unstable that the water may start out clear in the washing machine, and then turn brown during the rinse cycle,” The Advocate reported.

Longtime resident Pearly Fair described the problem like this: “All your whites come out brown. So, a lot of us drive to a laundromat in another town. I go to Winnsboro. Some folks go to Tallulah. Been doing that for years.”

After the governor declared emergency status on December 16, the contamination problem has continued to look dire. On December 30, Louisiana’s top health official revealed that more than 20 percent of the water samples taken in St. Joseph show high lead levels.

“Dr. Jimmy Guidry said 90 samples taken from 414 homes and businesses in this tiny Delta town in northeastern Louisiana contained dangerous levels of lead, leaving residents to rely on bottled water provided by the state for drinking and cooking, possibly for months,” USA Today Network reported.

To read more about dealing with lead contamination visit Water Online’s Drinking Water Contaminant Removal Solutions Center.