Waco, Texas, saw heavy rainfall that caused overflow from multiple manhole covers across the city on May 2, 2024.
It’s reported that a power outage caused an overflow of partially treated wastewater to be released from the outfall at the Waco Metropolitan Area Regional Sewer System Central Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The city says that a breaker tripped in the plant that caused the power outage.
The plant features two backup generators, however one was down for maintenance and the second was unable to turn on due to burnt electronics.
The plant released 163,000 gallons of rainwater and diluted wastewater following the power outage. After about 10 minutes operators were able to switch power sources to halt the overflow.
The rest of the plant went without power for nearly two hours with the city estimating 3.2 million gallons of plant discharge. The city also estimated 110,000 gallons of water were overflown from manhole covers across the city.
The city estimate totals of overflow volume are roughly 3.5 million gallons of water, and reports that containment efforts around the city are underway.