The last in a series of critical water-quality tests is underway, giving Henrico County officials an approximate timeline for when a countywide boil water advisory could be lifted as early as Saturday.
At 11:15 a.m. today, a lab analyst at the county’s Water Reclamation Facility emptied a packet of Colisure reagent granules into a vial of water and set it in an incubator. It will remain at 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) for 24 hours. If the mixture is free of coliforms or bacteria, it will turn bright yellow.
The test is the second underway to determine whether bacteria is present in the county’s water system, which experienced widespread outages in central and eastern Henrico that began late Monday/early Tuesday. The outages came after a winter storm led to a loss of power and flooding in the city of Richmond’s water treatment plant, which also serves the county. In coordination with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), Henrico issued a precautionary countywide boil water advisory Wednesday, as the city’s water system resumed pumping.
Henrico’s water-quality tests began late Thursday and included an initial test for bacteria. Results from that test will be available late Friday. In addition, the county has been conducting the required tests of chlorine levels. As of Thursday night, results of those tests have shown chlorine within a normal range.
“The early results of our water-quality tests are very encouraging, and we remain hopeful that we’ll be able to lift our boil water advisory sometime Saturday,” County Manager John A. Vithoulkas said. “I want to thank our residents and community for their continued patience during this incredibly trying time. I also want to thank our staff, particularly those in Public Utilities, for their tremendous dedication and commitment to restoring water service and getting a community back to normal just as quickly as possible.”
The water-quality tests are being coordinated with VDH. Water service has been restored to all previously impacted areas. Residents, businesses and other users should continue to notice increasing water pressure as the system returns to normal operations.
Under the boil water advisory, all Henrico water customers should continue to boil their tap water before consuming it or using it in food preparation. Under the guidance of VDH, tap water can be used safely for hand washing and bathing without first boiling it.
For more information, visit henrico.gov/water-outage. Residents with questions may call (804) 501-4275, option 2. The call center will be available 24 hours a day until the boil water advisory is lifted.
