Henrico reopened water connections to the city of Richmond Wednesday evening following guidance from the Virginia Department of Health that the county could safely reconnect to the city’s water system.
The county had closed all connecting valves early Tuesday following reports of filter issues at the city of Richmond’s Water Treatment Plant.
The city has a boil water advisory in effect for certain pressure zones within its water distribution system. As Henrico maintained pressure in its system during the event and chlorine in the city’s water is at acceptable levels, the Virginia Department of Health has confirmed that the county does not need to issue a boil water notice for its customers and can safely reconnect to the city’s water system outside of the affected zones.
“Our operations team has done a tremendous job since early Tuesday maintaining water service throughout the eastern end of Henrico,” said Henrico Public Utilities Director Bentley Chan. “We learned a great deal about our system in January, and that knowledge helped us to provide uninterrupted service to our customers throughout this event.”
Public Utilities supplied the eastern end of the county with water from Henrico’s storage tanks while the connections to the city were closed. DPU staff manually routed the water through the system around the clock, using existing pressure in the pipes to their advantage where possible.
The city reports that its plant is back to full operational status. Henrico provided staff to the city to support their efforts, as did Hanover County, but has pulled them back to their regular duties now that they are no longer needed.
“This situation has been an example of the growth of communication between Henrico and Richmond since January’s crisis,” said Chan. “We are proud to have been able to support our neighbors during this stressful time.”
All water in Henrico is safe for consumption and is not subject to a boil water advisory. Officials anticipate pressure should be returning to normal countywide over the next several hours.