Henrico County is making water available to residents and declaring a state of local emergency to enhance its response to issues of limited water pressure in communities east of Interstate 95.
In a late-morning news conference, County Manager John A. Vithoulkas emphasized that Henrico’s water is safe to drink without boiling and said officials are hopeful that impacted customers will see improvements in water pressure this afternoon. The declaration of local emergency will accelerate the county’s ability to purchase and deploy resources and materials.
“I understand how much of an issue this is for Henrico County families,” Vithoulkas said. “We will do everything we can do to make it right.”
Bottled water – one case per family – is available for Henrico residents at no cost at the Eastern Government Center, 3820 Nine Mile Road. This afternoon, residents will be able to get water from tankers staged at the Eastern Government Center; Henrico Area Mental Health & Developmental Services East Center, 3908 Nine Mile Road; and Eastern Henrico Recreation Center, 1440 N. Laburnum Ave. Residents must bring their own containers. Updates will be provided on the Henrico County Government accounts on Facebook, X, Instagram and Nextdoor.
The county has set up a dedicated phone line – (804) 501-4275, option #2 – for residents who have questions about their water service.
Henrico’s issues with water distribution came after Monday’s winter storm caused a power outage and flooding at the city of Richmond’s water treatment facility. To prevent untreated water from reaching the county’s customers, Henrico proactively disconnected its feeds from the city system and began to serve all users from the Water Treatment Facility on Three Chopt Road. The issues were further complicated by a water main break that occurred Tuesday on Rollingview Drive in Sandston.
Vithoulkas noted the challenge of distributing water countywide from a single treatment plant in far western Henrico and added that the county got a delayed start because several hours had lapsed by the time city officials provided notice that it had lost power at its treatment plant. He also said he recognized that city officials had been working to address the issue.
Henrico has worked to ensure that water is available to local hospitals and nursing homes as well as to Richmond International Airport for travelers and airplane de-icing operations. Henrico is coordinating its efforts through county and regional incident management teams.
