Mylar balloon blamed as large parts of New Orleans put under water advisory

Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Large portions of New Orleans and Algiers Point Wednesday were under boil water advisories after a mylar balloon hit a power line Tuesday night, causing the Carrollton water plant to lose power.

New Orleans' east bank neighborhoods in Orleans Parish, including the French Quarter, Uptown, the Central Business District, the Garden District, the Bywater and New Orleans East were all affected.

Portions of the city's West Bank also were affected.

The New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board said in a statement the boil water advisory will be in effect until Thursday afternoon.

"Members of our water purification team have begun collecting samples. Because of the size of the affected area, over 90 samples will have to be collected," the statement said. "Due to the volume of samples, this precautionary boil water advisory will likely last until Thursday afternoon."

In 2023, Entergy New Orleans said mylar confetti shot from a cannon during Mardi Gras contributed to a power outage in the Uptown area of the city.

An Entergy New Orleans spokesperson told NBC affiliate WDSU that a mylar balloon hit the water treatment power line, triggering a "very brief power fluctuation- causing pumps to be tripped offline."

The Sewerage and Water Board statement added that in the affected areas,

"Water pressures in these areas fell below 20 pounds per square inch due to power failure at the Carrollton Water Treatment plant," the statement said.

"We understand from Entergy that the initial power outage was caused by a Mylar balloon connecting with a power line near the Carrollton Water Treatment Plant. This created a brief power fluctuation, which caused our pumps to trip offline."

Florida banned mylar balloons June 25, classifying them as litter and providing fines for violating the new law.

Environmental groups such as Oceana lobbied to get the balloons outlawed to keep the pollution from them away from ocean animals, according to a statement from Oceana Florida Field Campaigns Manager Hunter Miller.