East Rio Hondo Water Supply demolishes Port of Harlingen water tower

RIO HONDO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The East Rio Hondo Water Supply Corporation announced it took down a 300,000-gallon water tower that had been sitting idle for years.

The tank was built in the early 1980s by the Port of Harlingen and was initially used for the Harlingen Waterworks System.

According to a news release from the East Rio Hondo Water Supply Corporation, the Harlingen Waterworks System no longer used the elevated tank. They added the Harlingen Waterworks System could not sustain chlorine residuals in the distribution system in the Port of Harlingen.

In 2015, the Harlingen Waterworks System moved the Port of Harlingen water service and the existing tower to the East Rio Hondo Water Supply Corporation.

East Rio Hondo WSC initially planned to renovate the tank, but after a thorough assessment, the tank was deemed to be too small.

Additionally, repair costs would be more expensive than replacing it with a tank of a bigger capacity.

At 9:50 a.m. on Tuesday, the tank was demolished by Andy's Contracting. The metal in the tank will be recycled for scrap iron, the release stated.