RICHMOND, Va. — The water crisis in Richmond began on Monday, Jan. 6.
CBS 6 compiled a timeline of events, illustrating how the situation began and where things stand now.
7:30 a.m. Monday: In the midst of a winter storm, a power outage occurs at the city of Richmond's water treatment plant off Douglasdale Road.
Back-up generators turn on, but officials say a separate battery back-up and a redundant system both fail.
That causes critical damage to the IT system which is the brains of the whole operation and also leads to filter gallery valves getting stuck, allowing water to flood into the basement where the equipment is located.
"Over the course of the morning, that's when that water level started to rise. And so our folks were in there. They were. Setting up pumps. They were trying to pump that water out," Mayor Danny Avula said.
9:39 a.m. Monday: Power has been restored, but a crisis is emerging.
Henrico and Chesterfield counties choose to disconnect from the plant, preserving water for the city.
For the next several hours, crews work to get the plant's computer and mechanical systems back online.
Richmond city officials begin to think about issuing a boil water advisory but hold back, hoping that it is not necessary.
They soon realize the reservoir is dropping quickly and water consumption is increasing.
In parts of the city, people begin to notice major issues with water pressure.
WATCH: Richmond residents react to boil water advisory, outages amid winter storm
3 p.m. Monday: Rumors are swirling on social media.
Richmonders begin flocking to local grocery stores.
Bottled water disappears from shelves.
4:26 p.m. Monday: The city announces an immediate boil water advisory, something that has not happened in Richmond since Hurricane Isabel struck in 2003.
Richmonders are asked to begin conserving as much water as possible.
5:15 p.m. Monday: Mayor Avula holds an emergency news conference.
"We at this point have cleared out the flooding, we have addressed some of the issues, we have eight filters that are up and running and we expect by sometime later this evening that we will resume the ability to produce water," he said.
The goal was to have pressure restored to customers by 10 p.m.
That time comes and goes.
Before midnight Monday: The city provides an update saying the issues still have not been fixed and that Mayor Avula is spending the night at the water plant to oversee the restoration efforts.
Overnight and throughout the early morning hours, CBS 6 is inundated with calls and emails from richmonders desperate for answers.
8:15 a.m. Tuesday: The mayor provides an update.
WATCH: Mayor addresses concerns, answers questions Tuesday morning
"As about 15 to 20 minutes ago, we have the most positive step we've had in the last 12 hours, which we actually have two pumps that are actively running, actively filling one of the tanks," he said.
But still no water for much of the city.
12:33 p.m. Tuesday: The city announces that water production has been restored, but says it will be several hours before pressure is anywhere near back to normal.
Still, the question remains: was this preventable?
"I've now been in this for, you know, almost 24 hours, and it really seems like the power outage, the IT system, and then the dysfunction of the pumps really led to a weather related incident that would be really hard to avoid," Avula said Tuesday.
6:20 p.m. Tuesday: An update from leaders says an electrical panel failure at the plant has extended the timeline for when residents can expect their service to be restored.
About 9:30 a.m. Wednesday: Avula begins a morning briefing with what he calls "some good news." He explains that pumps are up and running, some filters have come online, and water is beginning to fill the reservoir. He says that Richmonders might begin to see a return to partial pressure as the day progresses.
This is a developing story. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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