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- Richmond Public Schools
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- Hanover County
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- Chesterfield County
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City officials said the boil water advisory issued Tuesday morning will remain in place through at least midday Thursday, as Richmond’s Department of Public Utilities waits for water quality test results following a filtration failure at the treatment plant on Douglasdale Road.
In a social media post, the city announced that DPU pulled the second samples from the impacted zones around noon Wednesday.
In order to lift the advisory, the city’s water supply must undergo two rounds of sampling and testing to ensure quality. The tests must be separated by 16 to 24 hours. Both of the samples must then test negative for a full 24 hours after each sample was pulled.
The first compliance samples were taken around 7 p.m. Tuesday, according to Richmond Mayor Danny Avula. The city is expecting to receive results from the first water sample test results Wednesday evening.
Results from the second sample are expected around noon on Thursday. If both samples are negative, the boil water advisory will then be lifted.
By 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, city officials said overnight water production at the plant went as expected, with the facility producing clean drinking water at a rate of 50 million–68 million gallons per day (MGD). Most of the plant’s filters were reportedly cleaned by this time.
In Tuesday evening’s call, Avula acknowledged the public’s frustration, admitting that the city’s shifting messaging — from initially declaring the water safe to drink to later issuing a boil advisory — was challenging.
“These situations are dynamic and the information is going to change, and all we can do is do our best to keep people abreast of the most up to date information and what our next steps are going to be,” he said.
Officials have not yet determined what exactly caused high turbidity (cloudy or murky water containing small particles of dirt) to clog the plant’s filters, ultimately causing a reduction in water production early Tuesday morning.
Both Avula and DPU Director Scott Morris emphasized the city’s commitment to transparency and said they would be coordinating with the Virginia Department of Health for an after action review with a focus on what caused the high turbidity.
“Was it something in the raw water? Was it how we operate our facilities?” Morris asked. “There's always a learning opportunity to figure out how we can better improve our systems.”
This latest incident is the third disruption in less than six months, following January’s widespread water outage and the accidental fluoride overfeed in April. Together, the failures have only intensified scrutiny of the more-than-a-century-old treatment plant and the city’s ability to manage essential infrastructure.
Avula said that his administration has prioritized the plant in wake of the January water crisis, investing in filters, pumps and accelerating long-term upgrades.
“We know that we've got to make investments on a more rapid timeline,” Avula said. “That work is both the investments in the actual infrastructure, but it's also the work in our staff — making sure that we've got the right complement of staff and we've got the right systems, that we've got the right procedures.”
Richmond Public Schools
Despite more than 20 schools located in the affected neighborhoods within the boil water advisory zone, RPS remained open Wednesday. District officials told VPM News they worked with the city to source 48,000 water bottles on Tuesday for schools directly impacted by the advisory.
The boil water advisory was put in place during the school day Tuesday. At the time, school officials took action by covering all water fountains across the division. Only one school, Albert Hill Middle School in the Museum District, was released early due to low water pressure.
RPS parents were sent messages Tuesday evening via the text service Remind about whether their school was impacted and if water would be provided to students.
“Pallets were delivered throughout the morning, with a few remaining delivered this afternoon,” Alyssa Schwenk, director of RPS communications, told VPM News.
Schwenk said the district’s distribution timeline was impacted by heavy rain and the majority of RPS staff working on site at the Siegel Center for high school graduations.
“48,000 bottles of water requires a lot of person-power and logistics, and so while the process wasn’t without kinks, we’re grateful as always for the resilience and resourcefulness of our staff, our families, and Richmonders broadly,” Schwenk said.
Schools impacted by the advisory will be supplied with bottled water and pre-packaged meal options through May 30, the last day of school.
At least two public schools not impacted by the boil advisory had covered water fountains on Wednesday. In response to questions, Schwenk told VPM News that parents and staff should reach out to their local school administration or the district’s central office with further questions.
Timeline
Tuesday, May 27 (12 a.m.) An operational issue attributed to high turbidity clogs filters at Richmond’s water treatment plant, temporarily reducing finished water production. City officials alert the Virginia Department of Health and regional partners after midnight.
Tuesday, May 27 (7 a.m.) Avula said by 7 a.m. all overnight issues had been resolved. DPU employees had flushed the filters and the plant was back online for full production.
Tuesday, May 27 (8:58 a.m.) City officials alert the media and city residents of the operational failure at the treatment plant. At the time, they said there was no impact to drinking water safety and that a boil water advisory was not needed, as water levels were above the threshold.
Tuesday, May 27 (11:27 a.m.) City reverses course and issues a partial water advisory for residents served by the Ginter Park tank. City officials said the filters reclogged after running at full production for over an hour, diminishing water pressure and triggering a boil water advisory.
Tuesday, May 27 (3 p.m.) Avula explained the sequence of Tuesday’s events in a virtual press conference.
Tuesday, May 27 (5:52 p.m.) The Department of Public Utilities in partnership with VDH expands the localized boil water advisory to include southside residents served by the Cofer Road tank.
Tuesday, May 27 (8:30 p.m) Avula announces in a virtual press conference that the first of two compliance samples – required to lift the boil water advisory – were taken around 7 p.m.
Wednesday, May 28 (8:19 a.m.) City officials send out a press release detailing overnight production at the water treatment plant. The city’s plant is now producing water at a rate of 50-68 million gallons per day, filling the reservoir as expected.
Wednesday, May 28 (12 p.m.) The second round of compliance samples were pulled from both impacted zones at noon.
Affected neighborhoods
Until the boil water advisory is lifted, all Richmond residents are being asked to conserve water. Residents in affected neighborhoods that receive public water from the Cofer Road or Ginter Park tanks are urged to boil tap water before consuming it:
- Ancarrow's Landing
- Bellemeade
- Blackwell
- Brookland Park
- Byrd Park
- Carver
- Carytown
- Chamberlayne
- Commerce Road Industrial Area
- Davee Gardens
- Fan District
- Ginter Park
- Hillside Court
- Jackson Ward
- Laburnum Park
- Manchester
- Museum District
- Northside
- Oak Grove
- Oregon Hill
- Randolph
- Scott’s Addition
- VCU’s Monroe Park campus
- VCU Health/Children’s Hospital of Richmond/MCV campus
- Windsor
- Parts of the city center
Avula said Tuesday’s boil water advisory was prompted by a reclogging of filters at the treatment plant, which caused water levels to drop in areas served by the Ginter Park tank.
“We did see drops in production combined with the utilization that happens in the morning, and that dropped water pressures below the 20psi threshold,” Avula said, later adding that all points of Richmond’s water distribution were tested and only the Ginter Park tank’s supply had dropped.
Morris later clarified that the Ginter Park tank is smaller in size, which is why this is a localized issue.
At this time, city officials do not seem to be concerned about additional neighborhoods being impacted by the water boil advisory, though all Richmonders have been asked to conserve water.
“What's really different about this scenario than January, is that in January, our pumps were fried and weren't actually producing water. That's not the case here,” Avula said. “We're currently making 40 to 45 million gallons a day, so we're seeing consistent water production, and now we need to just refill the reservoirs.”
The initial clogging of the filters, which was reported to surrounding counties after midnight, was due to raw water — which comes direct from a natural source, like the James River — being of poor quality.
“The water quality that was in the basin had a very poor raw water quality, and it impacted a majority of the filters simultaneously,” Morris said during the Tuesday call.
This resulted in Richmond DPU employees taking the filters offline in both Plants 1 and 2, as well as cleaning them before bringing the system back online.
In response to the water boil advisory, Richmond Public Schools issued an early release for Albert Hill Middle in the Museum District.
It is not yet clear how the advisory will impact city schools on Wednesday, as well as scheduled graduation ceremonies at VCU’s Siegel Center.
VPM News has reached out to RPS for comment.
Area hospital systems — VCU Health and Bon Secours — told VPM News they are working under normal operations and doing their best to provide patient care with minimal interruptions. Retreat Doctors Hospital in the Fan did not immediately respond to VPM News’ request for comment Tuesday; its parent organization, HCA, said in a statement that it has contingency plans in place to ensure that patient care continues throughout the advisory.
Richmond City Council members were set to meet Tuesday evening to vote on the pending plastic bag tax proposal. That meeting has been rescheduled to Monday, June 2.
In response to the filtration incident, 8th District Councilor Reva Trammell told VPM News that she’s been fielding calls from concerned and confused residents all morning.
“All of this could have been prevented. It could have been prevented, and it wasn't. Now, look at Chesterfield and Henrico. They're mad. And I don't blame them, but don't blame [Mayor Avula],” Trammell said.
Trammell said that DPU’s Morris and outgoing Interim Chief Administrative Officer Sabrina Joy-Hogg have kept both councilors and city staff up to date.
“This happened under the previous mayor, who had $155 million that could have fixed this water treatment plant and did not fix it,” Trammell said, referring to Levar Stoney’s administration. “Now our mayor, Danny Avula, and his people are getting the blame for this. You can't fix this stuff overnight. This has been going on for years and years.”
Water in Hanover and Henrico remains safe for use. Officials from both counties notified residents on Wednesday morning that a boil advisory was still not in effect for either locality and that water pressure remains above acceptable levels.
Hanover County
As of Wednesday, Hanover's drinking water is still safe for consumption and general use. However, residents in the Ashland and Mechanicsville Districts may notice slightly reduced water pressure.
County officials said they've rimmed back pressure in some areas to reduce how much water is pulled as Richmond continues to repair its system.
Hanover County is not under a boil advisory notice, but county officials issued a statement encouraging residents to conserve water by turning off irrigation systems.
Hanover’s public utilities department was contacted around midnight as well and has been making water system adjustments as needed. A spokesperson from the county said water pressure levels in the supply line are well above the threshold that would require a boil advisory.
Henrico County
Henrico disconnected from Richmond’s water system Tuesday, after officials were informed that the city’s water treatment plant was temporarily shut down. Bentley Chan, director of the Henrico Department of Public Utilities, briefed Henrico’s board of supervisors on the county’s plan to ensure its water system remained undistributed.
“Henrico is totally isolated from the City of Richmond,” Chan said. “We aren't taking anything from the city now… We think that the county can maintain itself. We are asking residents to conserve, but they should not experience anything different from their normal service."
Chan said the county’s water treatment facility in western Henrico and reserve tanks were used to ensure the county continued to receive clean water. Those tanks were refilled Wednesday morning, according to Chan. County officials also opened their emergency operations center as a precaution — as the city continues working to restore its water treatment plant.
“By successfully routing water from our water treatment facility in western Henrico to our system of six tanks in the east end, we’ve ensured that these reserves are fully restored and able to meet the needs of our residents and other customers, as needed,” Chan said in a statement Wednesday.
Rainy weather and relatively low water use helped in refilling these tanks quickly. The remaining water reserves are expected to last for the next 24 to 48 hours.
Staff from Henrico and Hanover remain at Richmond's water treatment plant.
A spokesperson from Henrico said they were informed of a filtration issue at Richmond’s water plant after midnight on Tuesday. The county's Department of Public Utilities was told that the majority of the city’s water filters were clogged by excess sediment in the James River.
Bentley Chan, Henrico’s public utilities director, told VPM News the county’s emergency preparation — put into action after January's water crisis — prepared them for a quick response.
“Coming out of the last water event, we talked about having our tanks filled or even overfilled,” Chan said. “We maintained a kind of a state of readiness to go out and close valves and isolate Henrico from the city. All of that worked according to how we had trained and prepared for it.”
The county has also been in contact with neighboring hospitals, like St. Mary's off Libbie Avenue, to ensure services aren’t disrupted.
Chesterfield County
To assist the city with reducing water demands while it resolves the issue, Richmond DPU requested Chesterfield reduce or stop taking water from the city early Tuesday morning.
Chesterfield Utilities said they received a call from Richmond DPU indicating its personnel were having treatment challenges at their water treatment plant at 12:45 a.m. By 2 a.m., Chesterfield Utilities operations staff stopped taking water from the three points of entry from the City of Richmond and transitioned its customers to other water sources.
Chesterfield’s water remains safe to consume, and its water distribution system has continued to operate as designed throughout this incident.
A county spokesperson clarified that the affected areas of the boil water advisory do not cross into the county, and that none of the handful of county residents affected during the last advisory are affected this time around.
Do you have questions or updates? Get in touch with us at [email protected], @vpm.org on Bluesky or u/vpmnews on Reddit.