Richmond starts water testing, but city remains under boil water advisory

On Thursday, Richmond Mayor Danny Avula said that water levels have risen across the city to the point that authorities have started testing samples for contamination and most buildings in the city have at least some running water, four days after the city’s water treatment plant failed following a winter storm.

A Jan. 6 power outage caused extensive flooding, which took filters and pumps in the city’s water plant offline. By that afternoon, some Richmond neighborhoods started seeing lower water pressure, and soon, either tiny trickles or no water at all coming from their spigots. That prompted shutdowns of businesses reliant on water, as well as closure of schools in the city for the rest of the week. The Virginia General Assembly postponed the start of its session from Wednesday, Jan. 8, to Monday, Jan. 13, an unprecedented action in the legislature’s history in modern memory.

Henrico and Hanover counties were also impacted, with reduced water pressure in the eastern parts of those counties, and a countywide boil water advisory in Henrico was declared Jan. 8.

Although Avula, who was sworn in just over a week ago on Jan. 1, acknowledged the good news of returned water service, it remains unsafe to consume tap water before boiling it, he emphasized during a noon press conference. Thursday morning, as water pressure increased in all nine water service zones, a city lab received multiple samples of water from across the city to test for bacteria with guidance from the Virginia Department of Health, Avula said.

Sixteen hours after the first round of testing, the city will test more water samples. If water samples are contaminant-free during two consecutive rounds of testing, the mayor said, the boil water advisory can be lifted. He estimated that could happen Friday or early Saturday.

“I’m feeling very optimistic about this, but we need to work through our protocols from the [Virginia Department of Health],” said Avula, a pediatrician who previously led the Richmond and Henrico County health districts and was the state’s COVID vaccine coordinator.

Later, answering questions from reporters, Avula said it is safe for people to take showers, just not to drink water without boiling it first.

Meanwhile, the city continues distributing bottled water at 11 distribution points, although a tractor trailer filled with water Thursday morning got stuck on the way to a drop-off, causing a delay, Richmond Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Traci Deshazor said Thursday.

Avula noted Thursday that snow is forecast Friday night and Saturday morning for the metro area, and city employees are testing battery backups and generators for the water pump facility, and increasing staffing at the plant. Dominion Energy also will be monitoring the plant’s power status during the snow event, and regional governments are putting electricians, mechanics and other technicians on standby if needed. IT contractors also will be “on-site and monitoring with us,” the mayor added.

On Wednesday, city restaurants and other businesses were waiting for water service to return, and figuring out what adjustments they needed to make under the boil water advisory. The Virginia Department of Health released guidelines for food service businesses to operate safely.

Hospitals in the affected area had temporarily diverted emergency patients during the beginning of the water outage, but as of Thursday, most were accepting ER patients but not elective patients.

According to a Bon Secours spokesperson, St. Mary’s Hospital in western Richmond had to temporarily divert patients after a water main break on Monument Avenue near the hospital Thursday morning, but “they were able to come off diversion quickly once water service was restored,” Bon Secours PR and communications manager Jenna Green said.

Elective cases are postponed at St. Mary’s, Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center and Richmond Community Hospital, according to a Thursday morning update by the health system. The medical office buildings at Memorial and Richmond Community are closed, and St. Mary’s medical office buildings are experiencing low water pressure, which may affect some patients.

VCU Health is following emergency operations protocols, according to the system’s most recent update Wednesday night. VCU Medical Center in downtown Richmond was still diverting emergency patients as of Thursday afternoon because of the water situation. VCU’s ambulatory care clinics in the city were mostly closed, although the health system has other facilities across the region that are operating as normal. Elective testing and surgical procedures were canceled at the downtown VCU Medical Center, Stony Point and Hanover facilities, as well as many infusion care sites.

HCA Virginia said Thursday that most of its Central Virginia facilities are open and accepting new patients. Hanover Emergency Center, where EMS was on diversion earlier in the day, was open to ER patients Thursday evening, a spokesman said.

Chippenham and Retreat Doctors’ hospitals are “open and fully operational. However, they are experiencing some water and water pressure issues and appreciate your patience as they navigate them.” Johnston-Willis, Henrico Doctors’ hospitals at Forest Avenue and Parham Road, and the Swift Creek ER are all operating as normal and were not affected by the water outage.

In a Q&A session with reporters Thursday afternoon, Avula said he reached out to the three hospital systems Wednesday night, and the consensus was “it’s difficult, but they’re managing. They’ve been able to pull in water tankers to fuel their operations,” he said.

During the water crisis, Gov. Glenn Youngkin summoned the state’s National Guard to help distribute water to city residents, and the American Red Cross and several corporations donated bottled water. According to a gubernatorial spokesman, the state Department of Emergency Management and the Virginia Department of Health have coordinated with the city to provide water and technical support.

The mayor said Thursday that he would welcome legislative engagement and support, noting that the state made significant investments last year in the city’s stormwater overflow system. “I think this particular crisis brings it to the forefront,” Avula said. “Speaker Scott has reached out a couple of times, and I’ve talked to the governor throughout this. So, I think there’s a real sense of understanding and urgency, and hopefully that will yield some good investments in our infrastructure moving forward.”

Despite the mobilization of resources, many residents were left scrambling this week to purchase their own water at grocery stores and convenience stores around the region. Some Richmonders voiced frustration on social media that the power outage at the plant took place the morning of Jan. 6, but official warnings about the water situation didn’t come until later that afternoon, after many people citywide had already lost water pressure.

The governor said he would request an after-action report to look into the water system failure and said legislators should work to ensure the problems that happened in Richmond are fixed going forward. Avula said he plans for the city to investigate what caused the water outage, as well as how his office handled communications to the public and neighboring county governments.

Avula said the city has already reached out to an outside firm to see if it will help with “this after-action process. We’ll talk to a couple of others as well, and as I learn more, we’ll absolutely keep you informed.”