RICHMOND, Va. — The City of Richmond has issued a boil water advisory immediately and until further notice for all residents.
What happened?
This advisory comes after a winter weather storm-related loss of power Monday impacted the City’s water reservoir system, causing the system to temporarily malfunction.
"There was a failure of a component that created some flooding at the water treatment plant, and that's impeded our ability to produce more water," Richmond Mayor Danny Avula explained at a press conference Monday evening.
When will the boil water advisory be lifted?
Restoration services are currently underway, but city water is still not yet safe to consume without being boiled.
"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 some time later this evening that we will resume the ability to produce water and start feeding that reservoir again," Avula said. "But until we have some more clarity, we want to make sure that everybody is really taking caution in the water that they're using both preserving it, but also boiling water before you consume it."
Avula explained that when water pressure gets low in a system, it becomes possible for bacteria to enter the pipes and make the water unsafe to drink, and the advisory was issued out of an "abundance of caution."
Avula went on to say the advisory should be lifted in the next 24 to 48 hours once water quality testing has taken place.
"The water will be drinkable once we've gone through our testing protocol with VDH," Avula said. "What happens is that once we resume water pressure, we will start testing at different points, and then we do a follow up test 16 hours later, and we do this in conjunction with VDH and the state lab, just to make sure that there aren't bacteria in the water. And so that's when we'll ultimately lift the boil water advisory."
Which areas are affected by the boil water advisory?
April Bingham, Director of the Department of Public Utilities, said Districts 2, 3, 5, and 6 may be particularly affected by low water pressure.
But some may experience a total loss of water service, while others may experience varying degrees of loss in water pressure, anywhere in the city.
Was there a delay in notifying residents about the issues?
"So much of what we communicate to the public, not only is like, do we have all the details and do we want to make sure that we're giving clear direction the public, but we also have regional partners that we need to coordinate with," Avula said. "And so we wanted to make sure that we had brought in the region, tried to make sure that they their residents weren't going to be affected by this, because I wanted to be able to give really clear and direct information so that people who are served by the City of Richmond know that they're impacted."
Water safety and conservation tips for boil water advisory
Below is a checklist for safe water use during this time:
- Do not drink tap water during this boil water advisory.
- Do not drink from water fountains in parks, public or private buildings that receive water from the City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities.
- Do not use ice made from water today. Discard the ice and sanitize the ice machine and/or ice trays. This also applies to water and ice dispensed directly from a refrigerator.
- Do not use tap water to make drinks, juices, or fountain soft drinks.
- Do not wash your dishes using tap water – use boiled water or use paper plates for the next few days.
- Do not wash your fruits and vegetables with tap water – use boiled or bottled water.
- Do not brush your teeth with tap water – use boiled or bottled water.
- Do not cook with tap water, unless your food will be boiled vigorously for three minutes.
Temporary water conservation tips:
- Eliminate or shorten shower times.
- Avoid unnecessary toilet flushes,
- Avoid washing clothes for as long as possible.
- Postpone washing dishes if possible.
- Check all faucets, showerheads and under cabinets for drips.
This is a developing story and will be updated as we learn more. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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