Explosion at water plant now under control

An explosion at the Texarkana Water Utilities Water Treatment plant located at 2700 New Boston Road caused an electrical outage at the facility around 6:55 a.m. this morning.

There were no injuries associated with the explosion at the plant that serves both Texarkana, Arkansas and Texarkana, Texas.

According to TWU Executive Director, Bill King, this occurrence is not expected to impact water customers at all after TWU operation maintenance personnel was called in to assess the damage, bring the Millwood plant up to full capacity, and repair the equipment at the New Boston Road location where the explosion occurred.

“This morning a motor on one of the pumps single-phased, which heated up and melted a portion of the motor, causing a series of reactions across the system that put us completely without power,” King said. “We were able to bring the Millwood Plant up to operate producing 20 million gallons per day, and we will continue to monitor and repair the equipment at the New Boston Road plant to make sure our customers have access to water.”

“We do not expect to make any conservation mandatory because of this event, and all operations should be back to normal very soon,” King said.