HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Henrico County declared a local state of emergency, calling on local and possible state partners, after a water main break rendered nearly half of the county without water or with low water pressure levels Tuesday morning.
According to county officials, the issue started when Monday's winter storm caused power outages and flooding at Richmond's water treatment facility. County officials said then disconnected its feeds from the city's system and opted to serve all users from the Water Treatment Facility on Three Chopt Road.
WATCH: Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas provides update on East End water issues
Then Tuesday morning, a water main break was reported in Sandston, disrupting a line carrying water from the western part of the county to the eastern part of the county.
Impacted areas included communities east of Interstate 95, including Sandston, Fairfield, Highland Springs, Varina, and White Oak.
A boil water advisory is not in effect for the county and water is safe to drink where it is available.
“I want to apologize for the additional suffering that this has caused for our residents," said John Vithoulkas, the county's manager, at a press conference Tuesday.
"Please know that we're working using all available resources that we have to restore service as soon as possible to all of our residents and businesses," Vithoulkas said.
Bentley Chan said water flow is expected to improve as the day goes on.
"We do have staff that have been working around the clock to make sure that services are restored to residents, and as that is happening, we are in close coordination with the City of Richmond on their repairs to their facility. So, the combination of the two should provide restoration of totally normal services to all residents of the county, but I would expect that at the very least, later this afternoon, residents in the eastern part of the county should see elevated pressure and flow in their system," Chan said.
Both Chan and Vithoulkas reiterated that water that is flowing is safe and that there is no boil water notice at this time.
Vithoulkas said local hospitals and nursing homes were prioritized with getting clean water first. The county said it worked with Richmond International Airport earlier in the day to make water available for travelers, flight crews and operations.
The county has dedicated phone line residents can call to address questions or take reports of water issues. The number is 804-501-4275, option 2.
CBS6 was told on site that there would be at least five to six tanker trucks filled with 5,600 gallons of water that would be utilized to serve Henrico residents. Residents were able to get one 40-pack of bottled water on site.
The following sites were listed as being water distribution sites:
-Eastern Government Center (3820 Nine Mile Road)
-Mental Health East Center (3908 Nine Mile Road)
Residents can bring a container to fill water directly from a tank.
It is unclear when water distribution may end Tuesday, or if it is expected to continue into Wednesday.
"There will be a post-op on this, I assure you, on Henrico County side, I am certain that the city will do a post op regionally on what happened, and there may be lessons learned, and based on those lessons learned, we may change some of the practices that we have undertaken on these years," Vithoulkas said.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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