RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond city councilmembers expressed growing frustration Monday over repeated water quality problems as the Department of Public Utilities presented a 10-year improvement plan.
"The calls I've received over the weekend has really been challenging," Councilwoman Ellen Robertson of the 6th District said during Monday's meeting.
Councilmembers didn't hold back while voicing concerns from constituents following two boil water advisories issued last week. The advisories resulted from high turbidity in the James River source water, which caused sediment filters to clog at Richmond's water treatment plant.
Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch of the 5th District questioned the history of water quality issues.
"Is what happened, do you think that's happened in the past? If so, was our drinking water safe?" Lynch said.
This marks the third water quality incident in recent months, following a water crisis in January and higher levels of fluoride detected in the water last month.
Robertson, who has served on the council for over two decades, emphasized the unprecedented nature of these disruptions.
"We've been operating this plant for many, many years and this is the first six months, of 21 years of experience, that I've seen this level of interruption in service," Robertson said.
Scott Morris, Director of the Department of Public Utilities, identified two primary factors behind the recent water quality problems.
"There's two primary factors that came to light. One being poor water quality and the second one being preventative maintenance," Morris said.
The Virginia Department of Health has described the number of regulatory violations in such a short time period as unprecedented, adding to councilmembers' concerns.
Councilman Andrew Breton of the 1st District pushed for a more comprehensive approach to addressing the issues.
"I think what we really need to see is the bigger arch about where our reliability is headed and the path to get there," Breton said.
In response to these concerns, Morris presented a document outlining a 10-phase plan spanning the next 10 years to improve Richmond's water quality and reliability. Several of these projects are already underway.
"There's a lot of investments we have to do. There's a lot of commitment and there's also a lot of change in the way we do business," Morris said.
Meanwhile, water distribution sites remained open in Henrico County until 8 p.m. Monday for an unrelated issue. Richmond city utility workers were fixing a broken water main that caused a massive sinkhole last Thursday on Canal and 7th streets.
Some Henrico residents, who rely on Richmond's water source, were asked to conserve water as utility crews worked Sunday into Monday to repair the break. Officials believe the work should be completed by Tuesday morning rush hour.
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