Click here for an explainer on flushing your pipes after a boil advisory.
After shifting timelines, the city of Richmond announced its water boil advisory was lifted before noon Saturday. Advisories for Goochland, Hanover, Henrico counties were all lifted as well.
Richmond Mayor Danny Avula told reporters and city staff gathered at the Main Branch of the Richmond Public Library that a second round of water quality tests were returned negative for contaminants like bacteria.
“We’ve all been through a lot this week, so I am really pleased to announce today that the boil water advisory has been lifted,” Avula said.
The mayor took a drink from a glass of water, which he said was fresh from the tap. He said water from taps still might be cloudy, but it should clear up soon after pouring from the faucet; pipes still have air trapped in them, potentially causing bubbles.
During the snow Friday night, Avula said Department of Public Utilities employees informed him all systems ran as intended. The National Weather Service reported between 2 and 4 inches of snowfall in the Richmond region Friday night into Saturday morning. The mayor previously discussed the city’s preparation ahead of this most recent precipitation.
The city will undergo a review of the events that led to the water system failure and soon would announce the details of that process, according to the mayor. Both Avula and Gov. Glenn Youngkin have publicly discussed beginning investigations into what led to the city’s water outage.
During the Saturday press event, the mayor fielded questions about a 2022 Environmental Protection Agency audit report on the city’s water system, which included documentation of problems like missing hardware, malfunctioning chemical treatment systems, extensive rust and algae buildup, and more.
“There’s still gonna be an all-hands-on-deck approach at the water treatment plant for this upcoming week, and however long we need to. We're really confident about [the] restored function,” Avula said, adding the city is considering third-party consultants to determine if other systems need to be addressed throughout his term.
He said the city would also employ a consultant to determine ways to get some money back to businesses forced to close during the outage.
DPU director April Bingham was not present at Saturday’s press conference; Avula said she pulled an all-nighter at the water plant.
If there were to be another electrical outage, Avula said he’s confident work this week to address redundancy issues like power backups makes him confident the treatment plant would operate uninterrupted.
Avula also said he’s not concerned about reservoir levels as Richmonders start clearing out their pipes, per city and state recommendations.
“Our reservoir right now is up above 18 feet at last check,” he said. “I do expect that our utilization will tick up … but our reservoir is well above where it needs to be to maintain pressure.”
He noted that since water pressure was restored Thursday, some city buildings have reopened, while some schools have experienced leaks after turning the water on. He doesn’t expect those to affect reopening next week.
Bobby Vincent, public works director, said crews had been out since Friday night, salting and clearing roads. They’re working on main roads and will move into neighborhoods afterward.
“We’re trying to get those streets as clear as possible, in order to hopefully give our school system and our residents the opportunity to leave from all of their homes,” Vincent said, while asking residents to clear sidewalks in front of their homes.
On Friday, Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Samuel B. Parker published a story detailing an 8-year delay in replacing the component that likely caused the region’s water problems. That span of time overlaps with Levar Stoney’s two terms as mayor.
Zach Marcus, campaign manager for Stoney’s bid for lieutenant governor, offered VPM News the following statement via email.
“Budgets Mayor Stoney proposed and city council adopted included funding for needed maintenance updates to the century old water treatment plant as is clear from the fact that RFP’s were issued in 2021 and 2022 for that purpose,” Marcus wrote Saturday afternoon. “That said, the mayor did not and would not be involved in any procurement decision per the Virginia Public Procurement Act. Ultimately, solutions for aging water infrastructure throughout our Commonwealth will require real, sustained federal and state investment in addition to local and regional partnerships.”
Click here for an explainer on flushing your pipes after a boil advisory.
Where else can you get information?
- City of Richmond
- Henrico County
- Chesterfield County
- Hanover County
- Virginia Department of Transportation
