Kenner Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Kenner, Louisiana, in Jefferson Parish just upriver from New Orleans at the southern end of Lake Pontchartrain — site of Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport — draws its municipal water supply from the Mississippi River via the City of Kenner Water Utilities Division, treating Mississippi River water at Kenner's water treatment plant serving the western Jefferson Parish metropolitan area. Kenner sits in the Mississippi River flood plain immediately above the New Orleans crescent. Water hardness in Kenner measures 68 mg/L — classified as moderately soft.

Kenner's moderately soft supply reflects the Mississippi River's diluted chemistry at the Louisiana delta. Despite draining an enormous continental basin (the entire interior of North America, including very hard Missouri River, Ohio River, and upper Mississippi calcareous drainage), the Mississippi River at New Orleans–Kenner has a surprisingly moderate hardness level. The massive volume of the lower Mississippi River — one of the world's highest-discharge rivers at the New Orleans gauge — dilutes the calcareous inputs from the upper basin. The dominant lower Mississippi tributary, the Ohio River (generally 100–150 mg/L at its mouth), and the Arkansas River blend with the softer upper Mississippi drainage to produce the moderate 68 mg/L at the Louisiana delta reach.

With hardness at 68 mg/L, Kenner residents enjoy moderately soft water with minimal scale challenges. City of Kenner Water Utilities Division consistently delivers water meeting all Louisiana DEQ and EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.