Matt Hellman | Lariat Photo Editor
By Jade Mardirosian
Staff Writer
Two boilers on campus providing heat and hot water to the buildings stopped working at around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
After one of the boilers valves blew, steam and hot water came out, hitting control panels for both boilers and causing the entire system to go down.
Brian Nicholson, associate vice president for facility, planning and construction, said this type of scenario does not normally happen and no one was injured during the incident.
“We have two boilers; one is capable of taking care of the campus’ needs,” Nicholson said. “We have a second that also runs to assist and to add more capacity. In the event one goes down, we have a second to keep [things] afloat.”
By Thursday afternoon, one boiler had been repaired and Nicholson said the other would be repaired by next week.
“Since it was the panel that went out, the manufacturer was called,” Nicholson said. “Through the middle of the night the manufacturer found the parts needed in Baton Rouge [so] they put them on a truck and brought them here. The other will be fixed by next week since there is a part [needed] that has been ordered.”
With one boiler working again Thursday afternoon, Nicholson said heat and hot water on campus should no longer be affected by today.
Nicholson said the biggest inconvenience from the broken boilers was probably the loss of hot water.
“Some hot water stays in the system, but without the boilers working, we lost the ability to reheat water,” Nicholson said.
The broken boilers especially caused disruptions for students living on campus.
Harker Heights junior Vianca Leon lives in Memorial and also said not having hot water was very inconvenient.
“I have a few friends and a suite mate that had to go to a friend’s apartment to shower because the water was so freezing,” Leon said.
Both water boilers are located in the Baylor Energy Complex, on Third street across from Sid Richardson.
