A leak in a drain line flooded part of the basement of the Reed McDonald building Monday afternoon.
By Tuesday, standing water filled the building’s photography lab, and puddles were formed in the computer lab and hallway.
“We believe we have a leak in a glass drain line in the chase,” said Les Swick, director for facilities for Texas A&M.
Swick said he did not yet know how the leak would be fixed.
Howard Eilers, associate professor of architecture and photojournalism, said he saw the water at 5 p.m. Monday and was informed that the Physical Plant had already been called.
“Within 10 to 15 minutes, they showed up to work on it,” Eilers said. “They were still working when I left at 6:30.”
Cindy McCormick, a chemist in the Office of the Texas State Chemist, said Physical Plant workers came to the chemistry labs Monday.
“(They) thought (it was) a glass pipe draining water from the autoclave,” McCormick said.
McCormick said she thought the plant workers turned off the water source, but that the leaking continued Tuesday. McCormick said that although the Texas State Chemist works with chemicals, all of the chemicals are diluted with water and should not be harmful if they are in the leaking water. McCormick said she does not anticipate that there are any chemicals in the water.
Eilers said the water continued to leak into the lab on Tuesday afternoon, despite cleanups by the University’s maintenance crew.
“I went in (the lab), and I could hear that it (water) was still dripping and we had puddles on the floor,” he said.
Eilers said a physical plant worker came at 2:30 p.m. when the leak had let up. The worker returned at 5:30 p.m., and as of Tuesday evening he and several others werestill working on the leak.
Ashley Johnson, a freshman American studies major, said the flooding made work inconvenient because she and other students had to maneuver around puddles in the photography lab.
“This is right around our finals, so we have to get everything together,” Johnson said. “It is not a good situation.”