Jan. 9, 10:40 p.m. Update: Public Utilities completed the first round of required tests needed to lift the boil advisory. The chlorine tests were a success. The bacteriological test results will not be available until Friday evening. The next water sample will be pulled from the system Friday at 10 a.m. and will undergo the same round of testing. If all goes well, officials are hopeful the boil advisory will be able to be lifted Saturday morning.
With water now returning to impacted areas of central and eastern Henrico County, officials have initiated the first of two rounds of water-quality tests that ultimately could lead to the lifting of its boil water advisory.
Testing began Thursday evening and, if all goes well, the boil water advisory could be lifted as early as Saturday afternoon, said Bentley P. Chan, director of the Department of Public Utilities.
Late Thursday afternoon, pressure in the water system reached a critical milestone – a minimum sustained water pressure of 20 PSI (pounds per square inch). DPU crews had been monitoring pressure across the system and had focused on a location at the highest elevation. About 5 p.m., that monitoring site was the latest to reach the sustained 20 PSI threshold, Chan said.
He said pressure in the system continues to build slowly and somewhat unpredictably, as water service returns and customers resume use, with showers, laundry and food preparation.
Overnight, DPU will fill its above-ground water tanks, which will provide a buffer against pressure losses amid surges of water use.
With testing now underway, water samples were drawn from seven locations, including one in western Henrico and six in eastern Henrico, and are being measured for levels of chlorine and bacteria. The results will come quickly – in about 15 minutes – for the chlorine tests.
As a result, DPU expects to receive the first results late Thursday, Chan said. The county’s tests are being coordinated with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH).
The bacteriological tests take 24 hours to complete, and they must be conducted twice, with the second test initiated 16 hours after the first. With that first test initiated Thursday night, officials are hopeful the results will be available Friday night. That would allow the second test to begin Friday afternoon, with results returning Saturday afternoon.
At that point, if all goes well, officials would be able to lift the boil water advisory, Chan said.
“We’re going to make sure VDH is standing by to receive the results of the second test and give us the ‘all clear,’” he said.
