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January 2025 Richmond water crisis
In January 2025, the city of Richmond, Virginia, and its surrounding localities suffered water distribution outages due to Winter Storm Blair, which impacted much of the United States.[1] The issues started on the morning of Monday, January 6, and were mostly resolved by Saturday, January 11. The localities' water systems are interconnected, meaning that problems in Richmond City led to problems across the region. Richmond was the most impacted, followed by Henrico to the immediate north. Henrico is bordered on the north by Hanover County and on the east by Goochland County, which also faced some impacts. Chesterfield County, to the south of Richmond, was impacted very little, as they were able to effectively switch water sources and have very few customers who directly receive water from the city. Boil-water advisories were issued for all or parts of Richmond city and Henrico, Hanover, and Goochland counties, as well as for 27 people in Chesterfield County. Communication issues between the city and Henrico County, and between the city and its water customers, contributed to response difficulties. Impacts were widely felt, with hospitals, schools, and sporting events being among those facing cancellations and service interruptions. Cooperation between localities and among localities and the private sector helped to mitigate some of the issues. The event had political implications, because the Virginia General Assembly had to recess until Monday, January 13; they had originally been scheduled to start their session on Wednesday. Governor Glenn Youngkin activated the Virginia National Guard, which was made easier because of the state of emergency that had been declared earlier in the week. He called for an after-action review to more fully understand the crisis. Further, Jason Miyares, the attorney general of Virginia, said that he would aggressively prosecute price gouging. Additionally, the outage happened roughly a week into newly elected mayor Danny Avula's administration. Full water service was returned by Thursday and Friday, January 9 and 10, but the boil-water advisory was not lifted until the afternoon of Saturday, January 11 due to testing requirements mandated by the Virginia Department of Health's (VDH) Office of Drinking Water. However, these requirements were somewhat shortened by the department.[2] BackgroundWinter Storm BlairThe City of Richmond had declared a State of Emergency in preparation for the storm,[3] as had the Commonwealth of Virginia.[4] RichmondOn a typical winter day, the water plant on Douglasdale Road produces 45 million gallons per day,[5] and the city reservoir is typically at about 18 feet;[6] the reservoir is located near Byrd Park.[7] The water system is very aged, according to Dwayne Roadcap, director of the VDH Office of Drinking Water; one portion was built in 1924, and the other in 1950; he said that "you can see the age of the system."[8] The Richmond Department of Public Utilities, which is responsible for the water system, was already involved in customer service and billing issues before the outage.[8] Before the crisis, it did not regularly participate in tabletop planning scenarios, except for sometimes participating with the fire department.[9] The maximum fill level of the city reservoir is 18 feet.[10] 2022 EPA report and responseA 2022 report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uncovered problems with Richmond's water distribution system. Their visit to the plant was announced about a month beforehand, and they have visited along with the VDH Office of Drinking water.[8] The report showed multiple issues, like vegetation growing in a raw water channel line; cracked concrete at plant #2, which allowed debris into a water filter; and multiple instances of corrosion. The Byrd Park reservoir roof also had leaks and other issues that had to be addressed.[8] Additionally, multiple filters were aged and cracked, inspections were irregular, and there was limited and preventative corrective maintenance.[9] The Richmond Department of Public Utilities had responded to the report on January 3, two days before the plant's failure.[8] CBS 6 News pointed out that the city's response was delayed by roughly 2 years, but a Department of Public Utilities spokesperson said that they weren;t presented with the findings until August 2024.[9] The response, by Richmond Department of Public Utilities Director April Bingham, laid out corrective measures;[8] it also said that "Redundancy is a key feature of our system, ensuring that critical services remain uninterrupted despite the temporary unavailability of certain assets."[9] Their response noted that they would address cracked and corroded equipment with refurbishment and a larger capital improvement project; the department also noted that its emergency response plan was outdated and that a new plan would be completed in early 2025.[9] The emergency response plan had not been updated since 2017.[11] Broader infrastructure strugglesPolitical strategist Paul Goldman, who, among other accomplishments, led the referendum for an elected mayor of Richmond due to corruption and other issues in the city, argues in an editorial for RVAMag that Richmond city leaders cut back on infrastructure spending in the 1980s, as city revenues decreased. A return to increased spending was promised, but never realized, by many in the following decades. Although Douglas Wilder tried to modernize the city's infrastructure, political battles with Bill Pantele, then-President of City Council, got in the way. He argues that Mayor Dwight Jones and Levar Stoney, in pursuit of higher office and political contributions, played the "race card" to the city's detriment, especially the detriment of its infrastructure; and that Stoney's sports arena project was the wrong thing on which to focus.[12] Surrounding countiesChesterfieldChesterfield sources water from the James River, Lake Chesdin, and the Swift Creek Reservoir.[13] Normally, Chesterfield receives about 20% of its water from the city.[14] About 27 Chesterfield residents receive their water directly from the city. They are unable to be connected to county water due to pressure and geographic constraints.[5] HanoverHanover has purchased water from the city since 1994; city water primarily serves the Hanover Air Park and Mechanicsville. City water is one of the county's Suburban Water System's 3 sources. serves the Doswell and Ashland areas are served by the Doswell Water Treatment Plant. Hanover County's 25-year plan does include provisions to construct its own reservoir and an additional water treatment plant, although the County and the City would continue to remain partners.[15] HenricoHenrico's Water Treatment Facility is located on Three Chopt and Gaskins Road,[16] and was opened in 2004.[17] Previously, Henrico had gotten all of its water from the city.[18] While it was not designed to provide water to the entire county, it is equipped to provide about 80 million gallons of water a day, compared to its current production level of about 23 million gallons in 2023.[17] In 2023, Henrico purchased about 11 million gallons of water a day from the city. The contract allowing this runs through the middle part of the next decade.[17] Henrico's water system is divided into multiple pressure zones that have interconnecting pipes. These include the Greater Hermitage, Laburnum/Azalea Zone, and Greater Eubank zone (which encompasses much of the Varina district). The Greater Hermitage Zone is fed directly from the water treatment facility by a 42-inch pipe. The Greater Hermitage Zone and Laburnum/Azalea Zone have multiple interconnections. The Laburnum/Azalea Zone and Greater Eubank Zone are interconnected with a single 16-inch pipe. Normally, the Greater Eubank Zone and Laburnum/Azalea Zone are fed from Richmond's water treatment plant with large pipes, and Henrico only supplements that water every three days.[19] Typically, Henrico receives about 12 million gallons a day from the city.[16][20] The city's Church Hill water tanks serve the Elko area of Eastern Henrico.[16] The city generally provides about 11 million gallons a day of water to the county.[2] Henrico's water main on Staples Mill Road dates to the 1950s, and had had emergency repairs completed on it many times in the 18 months before the outage. During these repairs, officials had been able to replace leaking valves and install new valves, better allowing them to close off sections of the pipe if necessary.[21] Aqua VirginiaAqua Virginia is a Virginia State Corporation Commission-regulated water utility that provides water service to residents of Hanover and Goochland counties, among others.[22] TimelineMonday morning start to the incidentReports vary as to the exact nature of failures at the plant; it especially depends on their publication date, as new information has continued to come to light. The timeline is somewhat unclear. At 5:50 am, on Monday, January 6,[23] a power outage occurred at Richmond city's water treatment plant on Douglasdale Road, which was related to the larger power outages experienced across the region as a result of the January 5–6, 2025 blizzard across the United States.[24] At 6:50am, Dominion Energy was notified that power had gone out.[25] When power was lost, a process at the plant failed as it tried to transfer to a secondary Dominion Energy source. A plant electrician chose to manually complete this process, rather than activating backup generators. In a press briefing, Avula stated that he didn't know when the plant electrician had arrived.[23] At 7:30am, power was restored, but the plant's IT system did not reconnect to servers after a reboot, which was crucial for plan operations. Earlier reports indicated that this is when critical damage was caused to the IT system,[24][26] called SCADA.[25] The system had battery backup power, but, concurrently with the manual switch to the power system, that went offline before full power was restored.[23] An RVAMag report said that the IT battery backup system ran out too quickly,[11] after about an hour into the two-hour power loss.[25] Early reports indicated that backup generators turned on, but a separate battery backup and a redundant system both failed.[24][1] Additional reports indicated that the generators were intended as replacements for the battery, and had to be manually activated; Richmond officials declined to answer when asked by CBS 6 News the length of time between the backup batteries failing and the generators being turned on. Further, Mayor Avula said that a failure in a redundant system caused the plant to flood, damaging equipment.[25] Filter gallery valves became stuck, allowing water to flood into the basement where the electrical and computer equipment was located.[24] Avula reported that workers were in the basement and trying to pump water out.[24] He said that there was a delay of a couple of hours between the power outage to the time that water started building up in the facility.[25] MondayChesterfield County reported that its Utilities Department was notified at approximately 7am on Monday, January 6 of the situation and asked to limit water usage from the city. The county began the process of transitioning off of that supply to help the city maintain its water pressure, which is a standard response by the department in these types of situations. It augmented its supply by pulling more water from the Appomattox River Water Authority.[14] As of 9:39am, power had been restored to the plant. The surrounding counties of Hanover,[27] Henrico, and Chesterfield chose to disconnect themselves from the city's water system in order to help preserve water for the city.[24][27] For the next several hours, crews focused on getting the plant's computer and mechanical systems back in operation. Water consumption increased and the city's reservoir dropped noticeably. Some city residents began to notice major issues with water pressure. City officials chose to not issue a boil-water advisory at this time because they hoped that it would not be necessary.[24] A regional telephone call occurred at around 2:45pm in which surrounding localities were made aware that the water plant remained offline and that city water tank reserves were continuing to decline. Chesterfield County isolated its water distribution system from the city's supply by shutting down all three interconnection points between its water supply and the city's. The process was completed by 4:00pm.[14] Safe water continued to flow to water customers until around 4:30.[28] At 4:26pm, the city announced an immediate boil-water advisory,[29] which had not happened in the city since Hurricane Isabel in 2003. City residents were also asked to try and conserve as much water as possible.[24][27] April Bingham, Senior Director of the Department of Public Utilities, said in the press release that her team was "diligently working to bring the water system back online along with the support of our partners.”[27] 230,000 people had been reported to have been experiencing very low water pressure before the city was placed on the advisory.[1] At 5:15pm, Mayor Avula held an emergency news conference. He announced that they had cleared out the facility's flooding and that eight filters were operational. He also announced his intention to resume producing water later that evening and restore pressure by 10:00pm.[24] Before midnight, the city provided an update, saying that the issues still had not been fixed and that Mayor Avula was going to spend the night at the water plant to oversee restoration efforts.[24] Chesterfield County minor boil-water advisoryOn the evening of Monday, January 6, the Chesterfield Utilities Department delivered by hand 27 notifications to customers near the Chesterfield-Richmond line that received water directly from the city's water distribution system. These customers were informed to follow the boil-water and conservation advisories issued by the city. They were unable to be supplied by the county's water distribution system because of geographic constraints and pressure concerns.[5] Henrico pressure lossHenrico's quick rerouting of water services from the city's water facility[19] worked briefly[16] until an overnight Sandston water main break,[30] took pressure from the water lines in eastern Henrico, especially in the Sandston and White Oak areas.[19] The break was located near the Antioch Recreational Community Pool and occurred overnight.[18] Essentially, leaks in the system were caused as water rushed the system towards open valves leading to Richmond, which cut off water service to large parts of northern and eastern Henrico.[16] TuesdayOn Tuesday, January 7, 24 hours after the failure of the city water plant, Hanover County's storage tanks, which were supplying Mechanicsville, ran out. Meanwhile, Ashland's demands increased and the Doswell plant was unable to provide additional water, despite maximizing its production.[15] At 8:15am, the mayor reported that they had "the most positive step we've had in the last 12 hours"[24] which was the fact that two pumps had started actively running and that one of the tanks was actively being filled;[24] additionally, computer systems had been restored.[31] However, water service was still not restored for much of the city.[24] At 12:33pm, the city announced that water production had been restored,[24][1] but that it would be several hours before pressure returned to normal levels,[24] and that the boil-water advisory would remain in effect.[1] Electrical panel failureAt 6:20pm, city officials reported that the plant experienced an electrical failure, which extended the timeline for the restoration of water service.[24][1] The failure forced a system reset.[28] Initially, engineers employed by the city believed that the malfunction would not cause significant delays, but further analysis revealed the presence of a more complex issue, requiring additional time and resources.[31] In a statement, Avula said that "service teams remain on duty round-the-clock to re-pressurize the water system and restore water distribution throughout the city."[31] Hanover boil-water advisoryHanover County officials placed those portions of the county east of Interstate 95 under a boil water advisory. However, residents in Doswell were exempt.[5] Residents west of the interstate are also asked to continue to conserve water;[32] residents of the Town of Ashland were also asked to continue conserving water.[33] Officials said that the order was a precaution due to low water pressure. According to the county, the order is planned to remain in effect for 48 hours after Richmond's water service is fully restored.[32] Residents on Aqua Virginia systems were encouraged to contact them for updates.[5] Henrico pressurePressure was expected to be restored to eastern and northern the afternoon of Tuesday, January 7.[19][34] However, this was not the case. In the afternoon, Henrico workers were able to repair the Sandston break, but realized shortly after that a number of valves in the county water system would need to be closed or reversed to allow water to flow in a new direction before the system could be re-energized. According to County Manager John Vithoulkas, that process had to be extremely slow, because going too fast puts the pipe at risk of exploding.[18] On the night of January 7, Henrico crews finished closing two large valves to push water from Western to eastern Henrico, which did succeed in pushing more water to the eastern end of the county, but was still insufficient in providing full water service to eastern residents.[19] Many of the Henrico workers involved had been working for 14 or 15 hours, spending most of that time in freezing temperatures.[18] WednesdayAt 9:30am on Wednesday, January 8, Avula reported that 3 pumps were up and running, 12 filters had become operational, and that water was starting to fill the reservoir.[24][1] He said that a return to partial pressure was possible as the day went on.[24] The city's plant then began to fill the Church Hill water tank; one of its roles is to serve eastern Henrico's Elko region.[16] Hanover County reported, given the filling of the reservoir, which provides water service to the affected Mechanicsville area, their hope that water service would be returned by late afternoon into early evening.[7] In an afternoon press conference, Mayor Avula said that the plant was producing 69 million gallons per day. He said that once water levels and the city's main reservoir were able to stay above 10 feet, testing could begin to ensure that water is safe for human consumption. Regulations require the water system to pass two rounds of 24-hour testing at least 16 hours apart before the boil-water advisory can be lifted. He repeated the request to Richmonders to use their water sparingly.[5] He said that 5 pumps and 15 filters were then operational.[35] The city conducted its first bacteriological test of water in the water plant, which came back clean.[2] At 5:45pm, Hanover County reported that they were optimistic that water service would be fully restored to areas east of Interstate 95 by Thursday, January 9. According to Matt Longshore, Hanover Director of Public Utilities, water pressure began returning to affected Hanover homes on this day and that progress would continue throughout the night and into the next day as pipelines were refilled.[15] At 8:30pm, Hanover's water pumps were turned on.[36] The water service of about 6,000 Henrico customers had been restored since January 6, but roughly another 23,000 remained without service. Director of Henrico Public Utilities Bentley Chan indicated that customers can expect to hear gurgling, see discoloration or frothy and aerated water, or experience mineralization, which he said was normal and not something to be alarmed by; he said that customers experiencing this should flush their faucets by running them for a few minutes.[17] Henrico boil-water advisoryVDH issued a boil-water advisory in Eastern Henrico as residents started getting water again after the pressure drop, which county officials extended to all of its water customers due to the interconnected nature of its systems.[37] At the Tuckahoe Area Library,[17] county manager John Vithoulkas said in a press conference that the VDH did not realize that once water is in our system, there is no way to say that water is in Eastern Henrico (sic), can't end up in Western Henrico."[5] The department expects advisories region-wide to be in effect through January 9th.[1] Henrico residents do not need to boil their water for cleaning or showering purposes.[5] Public utilities director Bentley Chan said that "The boil water notice is a precaution for anything that may come through this first push of water."[17] He said that Henrico is not required to conduct the same tests within Its distribution system as the city's water plant, but may choose to do so.[17] Goochland and Aqua Virginia boil-water advisoryA boil-water advisory was issued for residents of Goochland County's eastern end, an area that receives its water from Henrico County. This includes residents in the James River Estates and Pagebrook subdivisions in its Eastern End, who are customers of Aqua Virginia.[37] Further, some customers of Aqua Virginia in Hanover County, who connect to County water, were encouraged to boil their water; this includes the Holly Ridge, Mayfield Farms, and Burnside subdivisions; it is unclear when these recommendations were made.[15] Henrico interconnect closureThroughout the morning, Henrico crews blocked off any remaining interconnects between the city of Richmond and Henrico. While there was no risk of contaminated water coming into the Henrico system from those valves previously, since the county was now attempting to restore pressure in its own water system, it had been losing water through those valves into the city.[19] It was believed that Henrico customers would be able to have access to water by the morning, but this turned out to be untrue. After crews finished closing the remaining large water valves, they realized that 14 other, smaller interconnect valves along the Henrico-Richmond line had to be closed as well. These valves will eventually have to be returned to their normal state one at a time, but this will not impact service.[38] Henrico pressure zone maintenanceOnce the Richmond-Henrico interconnect valves were closed, Henrico Public Utilities crews began working on filling up the Laburnum/Azalea pressure zone with water from the Greater Hermitage Zone. Once that is complete, water will be fed from there into the Greater Eubank Zone. However, the process may be lengthy, because there has never before been the need to send this level of water from western to eastern Henrico.[19] However, the process has been "tedious and water was slow to refill the affected areas."[16] Thus, the county returned to it strategy of getting water from the city.[16] ThursdayAt 5:45am on Thursday, January 9, the city announced that it would provide an update on water issues at 9:30am, but later rescheduled this press conference for noon.[39] Just before 9:00am, city officials reported that the city reservoir was almost full,[16] at 17 feet,[10] and that 8 out of 9 water zones were back in service; 9 water zones is the target.They announced that testing will commence when the ninth zone reaches its desired threshold.[16] Much of Henrico's Route 5 corridor near the city line, along with Highland Springs and Sandston near Richmond International Airport, remained without water, although some Highland Springs residents did report a slow trickle of water. Customers living farther east along Route 5 near I-295 reported at least low water pressure. Additionally, residents along South Laburnum Avenue near Nine Mile Road, in the Central Gardens community, and in the Glen Lea area reported having low or full water pressure.[16] At 9:55am, Hanover county officials say that water is almost back to normal, but that a boil-water advisory is expected to last until early in the weekend. Water testing began this day and it was expected to take up to 48 hours for the advisory to be lifted.[39] In the morning, Henrico's Varina District Supervisor, Tyrone Nelson, posted a video to social media announcing that the 23,000 customers in Eastern and Northern Henrico could be receiving water on this day unless "something crazy happens."[16] He said that water had begun reaching many affected communities in eastern and northern Henrico on the night of January 8. He further stated that those county residents previously without water would see their water returning on this day. Residents may experience trickles of water flow gurgling in the pipes, or air pressure. He said that "twelve hours from now, we’ll be in a way better place than we are right now.”[16] Henrico, as of Thursday morning, is receiving about six million gallons a day from the city, which is half the normal rate. The boil-water advisory will remain for all of Thursday.[16] Also in the morning, VDH called the affected localities and shortened its required waiting period between water system tests from 24 hours to 16 hours for the city and surrounding localities.[2] Before noon, officials in Hanover reported that water services had been restored to residents east of Interstate 95. Their boil-water advisory stayed in effect for those east of I-95 and is planned to remain so for the next 48 hours. Hanover Director of Public Utilities Matt Longshore said that any water discoloration noticed by residents is normal. To solve discoloration, Longshore recommended that customers flush their service line with an outside faucet, then flushing each indoor fixture with cold water, one at a time, until it ran clear. Residents were encouraged to continue to conserve water as full pressure was restored.[36] Between 11am and 12pm, tests of water within the city's distribution center were conducted. If those tests, along with tests conducted 16 hours later, are clean, the city plans to lift its boil-water advisory sometime Friday, January 10.[2] At noon, city officials said that water pressure had been fully restored[39] and that the city reservoir had filled to its maximum of 18 feet. He announced that additional personnel would be at the plant to prepare for the winter storm that was expected for January 10, including technicians, mechanics, electricians, and engineers; battery backups and generators were also tested at the plant ahead of the winter storm. Avula also announced that officials had decided to postpone billing for water services in January.[10] The news of Richmond's restored water pressure news meant that Henrico was one step closer to an end to the crisis. Henrico Public Utilities Director Bentley Chan said that the city was supplying 6 million gallons of water per day to the county, which is about half of its normal rate. While the water was lower in terms of pressure and flow, it was moving at a higher rate of speed than expected.[2] Early in the afternoon, the first Hanover water sample was sent to a state-certified laboratory once water service was restored. The next round of testing was set for early afternoon on January 10.[36] Many Henrico residents' water was restored by this day.[16] It was announced that the Henrico boil-water advisory will likely extend to Saturday, January 11 because Henrico is conducting its own tests on the water system, primarily in the areas served by the city's water supply. The second test, a bacteriological one, is planned to be undertaken January 10,[2] while the first was done on this day;[40] pipes were tested for both chlorine and bacteria.[41] Officials said that residents should see water flow return throughout the day, although they encouraged residents to remain patient and limit water use to mitigate possible high demand.[40] Six locations in Eastern Henrico and one in the West End were tested for chlorine.[41] Late in the evening, Henrico's first round of chlorine tests came back clean. Bacteriological tests require a 24 hour waiting period in the laboratory;[41] samples are incubated to see if any bacterial growth occurs; if none occurs, the sample, and thus the water, is identified as safe.[42] The incubation involves emptying a packet of Colisure reagent into a vial of water and placing it in an incubation machine at 95 °F (35 °C) for 24 hours; the mixture will be identified as safe if the mixture turns bright yellow. The water-quality tests were being conducted in coordination with VDH.[43] Henrico water main break2 additional water main pipes burst in Henrico County on this day, bringing the total over the week to 3. At 9:27am, an article was published by NBC 12 describing how a water main break closed part of westbound Monument Avenue at the intersection with Bremo Road. It is unclear whether this issue is related to the broader water outage. Officials were unable to provide an estimated time of repair at the time of publishing.[44] Traffic was closed on westbound Monument between Bremo and Devers Roads. Roughly 40 customers were impacted, but not nearby St. Mary's Hospital, which has water. The Henrico Citizen published that the break should be repaired by the evening of this day.[45] Officials also reported a break at Thalbro and Staples Mill Road. It is unclear if this break is related to the outage.[46] Officials completed repairs on the night of Thursday, January 9. It was indicated that the cold temperatures of the week, possibly in concert with efforts to move water to eastern Henrico, led to the break. The break was longitudinal in nature, requiring workers to cut an entire section out and replace it.[21] FridayOvernight, Henrico's Public Utilities department filled its above-ground water storage tanks, a move intended to provide a buffer against pressure losses due to expected surges in water use.[41] At 10am on Friday, January 10, Henrico conducted its second set of bacteriological tests. Officials said that all customers' water pressure should return to normal on this day.[41] Henrico's boil-water advisory is planned to be lifted Saturday, January 10. Hanover and Richmond also reported that their initial water tests found no harmful contaminants, although the boil-water advisory remains in effect due to the need to complete additional testing 16 hours after the first round.[47] At 11:15am, Henrico began its final water test.[43] At 2pm, city officials closed City Hall due to an unexpected drop in water pressure, although they said that it was not indicative of larger water distribution system issues.[48] Late into the day, clean results from Henrico's water bacteria tests became available.[43] SaturdayOn Saturday, January 11, officials from all the affected counties announced an end to the boil-water advisory due to testing showing clean results on all VDH-regulated indicators. Mayor Avula said that water coming out of faucets might still be cloudy due to air bubbles trapped in the distribution system, but that the water was still safe to drink.[42] At 2:10pm, Goochland was made aware of issues with water pressure in its eastern end and announced its intention to investigate. At 4:25, it was found that residents' flushing of their lines caused massive water pressure issues. Water conservation in the area was encouraged.[49] Impacts and responseWater distribution and showersRichmondAs of early Tuesday, January 7, state agencies had trucked in 70 pallets of bottled water to the city for distribution, with an additional 350 pallets scheduled for delivery.[31] The city itself provided more than 37,000 liters of water as of January 7 to distribution sites and "high priority areas."[26] On January 7, various city departments and humanitarian organizations, including the American Red Cross, along with the Richmond Sheriff's Office, partnered to distribute water in high-priority areas, such as homeless shelters, public housing, and elderly housing.[31] City water distribution sites included Broad Rock Library, Hickory Hill Community Center, Bellemeade Community Center, Midtown Green, Pine Camp Community Center, Westover Hills Community Center, and the East End District Initiative.[31] RVA Community Fridges shared other resources where people might obtain water, including at multiple local breweries and at the Wayside Spring, which is a natural spring in the city.[5] The city is offering calm water delivery starting at 10:30 AM via by calling 311. 311 and the Richmond Police Department will work together to deliver water to older adults and to individuals with mobility challenges; because of high demand, requests made after 2:30pm would likely be delivered the next day.[5] Richmond's public housing authority said that residents at its Creighton, Fairfield, Gilpin, Hillside, Mosby, and Whitcomb Court developments were able to receive bottled water at their communities' respective maintenance shops.[5] Officials continued water distribution on Friday, January 10, and Saturday, January 11.[10] HanoverOn January 7, from 3pm to 7pm, and January 8, from 12pm to 7pm,[32][15][50] water was distributed at Atlee High School and Cold Harbor Elementary School.[32] As of 4:30pm on Wednesday, January 8, the county had distributed 3200 cases of bottled water and 9000 gallons of potable water; the potable water was distributed at the Bass Pro Shop at 11550 Lakeridge Parkway and the Hanover County Government Complex. The county planned to continue distributing water Thursday, January 9.[15] Residents with even numbered addresses would be able to shower at Liberty Middle School, while residents with odd numbered addresses would be able to shower at Patrick Henry High School. Both locations will be open on January 9 between 9:00am and 7:00pm. Showers were planned to be available in 10-minute increments and residents were expected to bring their own toiletries and towels.[15] Hanover residents were asked to call a hotline if they had extreme medical needs or are shut-in to report their issues.[5] A potable water fill-up station was made available at the former Winn-Dixie shopping center in Mechanicsville.[51] HenricoThe county made sites available for the distribution of bottled water, as well as water from tanker trucks. Starting Tuesday, January 7, the Varina Area Library and the Sandston Branch Library had bottled water available until 9pm. The Eastern Government Center had bottled water around the clock. The Eastern Henrico Recreation center had bottled water and a tanker truck available around the clock.[19]  On the evening of January 8, the county made showers and bathroom facilities available to residents. Brookland Middle School, J.R. Tucker High School, and Douglas L. Wilder Middle School were all open from 8am to 8pm. The Henrico Sports & Events Center will be open around the clock to provide showers.[19][40] The schools also provided bottled water.[19] Just before 11:00am on Thursday, January 9, officials said that "temporary gaps" were being experienced in their supply of bottled water due to high demand. Thus, the six locations where bottled water was being delivered on Thursday may not have had it continuously available. Officials requested residents who need water to use the tanker trucks where possible, but that residents must bring their own containers.[16] Sentara Health and Newview Connects were planning a joint bottled water distribution event January 8 from 10am to noon, or while supplies lasted.[18] CBS 6 reported that the bottled water distribution at Tucker High School was 30 minutes late on January 9, and that the resources were limited; the first truck was almost empty by 9am.[40] The county closed all six sites at 8pm on Friday, January 10.[41] Henrico NAACP criticism of the responseThe Henrico NAACP unanimously passed an emergency resolution on the night of January 7 that expressed concern over the racial disparity gap in the county. They said that it was historically rooted in disregard for equitable outcomes for the Black community and other vulnerable county communities. They pointed out the racial disparities in the infrastructure failures and lack of clean water across the county.[18] The organization criticized the two-hour wait times on the designated water related concerns hotline. It called for an independent investigation into the Richmond facility's operational failure and into the dependence of the county on the Richmond facility.[18] Henrico supervisor Tyrone Nelson expressed his sorrow over the situation and said "We're doing everything we can."[18] ChesterfieldBottled water was provided by the County of Chesterfield to the 27 residents impacted by the City's water plant outage, and the county indicated that it was going to continue supporting these residents throughout the duration of the event.[5] Medical facilitiesThe lack of potable water severely affected operations at area health care centers.[5] According to Julian Walker of the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, area hospitals are using every outside resource available, including bringing in water tanker trucks to maintain water resources. Many area hospitals went on diversion and are discharging as many patients as appropriate; this includes some that have gone on EMS diversion.[52] Diversion is a legal status created by EMTALA, where incoming patients may be rerouted to other facilities because the hospital "does not have the staff or facilities to accept any additional emergency patients."[53][better source needed] State agencies worked overnight on January 6 to organize tanker trucks to deliver water to area hospitals.[31] Bon SecoursBon Secours Richmond implemented an incident command structure. As of January 8, all Richmond-area facilities are implementing water conservation efforts. Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center in Hanover County[39] and Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital are under emergency operations protocol due to water service suspension; both facilities' Medical Office Buildings are closed. The Richmond Community Hospital has sourced a temporary external water solution,[54][55] is on diversion, has stopped transfers, is facilitating appropriate transfers, and giving water bottles to persons at the facility.[55] The Memorial Regional Medical Center has postponed elected cases.[54] Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital was experiencing low water pressure on the afternoon of January 6[54] but normal operations have since resumed.[55] Henrico officials provided water to the hospital.[55] As of 9:57am on Thursday, January 9, Memorial Regional Medical Center was off of diversion.[39] As of January 10, Bon Secours announced that the only remaining effect of the crisis was the need for patients to call in to the facilities where they had appointments.[56] VCUSeveral Richmond-area locations of VCU Health have been closed for water- and storm-related reasons.[57] Procedures at multiple VCU Health facilities, including all endoscopies, outpatient diagnostic testing, and imaging, were canceled and clinics were closed on January 9.[55] Henrico officials gave water to the emergency department at VCU Medical Center, which is one of the area’s two Level I trauma centers.[55] On January 10, officials stated that over 20,000 appointments had to be rescheduled due to water issues.[58] Chippenham Memorial HospitalChesterfield Fire and EMS sent a crew to Chippenham Hospital, the other Level I Trauma Center in the region, with a 2500 gallon water tender to help with continued operation of the hospital's boilers and other systems that were affected by low incoming water pressure.[14] Retreat Doctors' HospitalRetreat Doctor's Hospital in The Fan, owned by HCA Healthcare, was without water and on diversion status since the night of January 6 at the latest.[55] Patient FirstThe Patient First in Carytown was closed due to the city's water crisis,[55] as was the location in Mechanicsville.[5] GovernmentState governmentThe water outage all state office buildings in Richmond and in Hanover County to close. House of Delegates clerk Paul Nardo said that even when water service was restored, it would take 16–18 hours to restore full system stability in the Capitol, and that officials had requested the conservation of water to help with system pressure even after the return of water. Nardo recommended that lawmakers return to their districts.[31] The Virginia Senate and House of Delegates announced their plans to convene at noon on Wednesday, January 8 to start the session, handle a few items, then recess until Monday, January 13.[59] The state constitution required their presence in the Capitol on Wednesday, and some infrastructure was set up to support them, including port-a-potties being placed around the State Capitol.[60] The items to be addressed in the House included, according to Nardo, two procedural resolutions, HJ 429 and HJ 430, followed by "the traditional salaries and contingencies resolution;"[61] the Senate also met briefly to address similar items.[61] Then, they recessed until 9 a.m. on Monday, January 13.[61][59] Legislative aides, interns, and most support staff were instructed to not work on the week of January 6–10. House chamber staff were to be present on the day to manage the abbreviated session. Legislative pages had already been sent home.[31] Governor Youngkin's State of the Commonwealth was postponed to the morning of January 13[59] at 10am.[31] The Capitol and General Assembly buildings were to be closed through Sunday, January 12.[61] The Virginia Department of Human Resource Management issued an alert in the evening of January 8 that state offices in Richmond would plan to open at 10:00am Thursday, January 9, and that any changes would be posted to the its website by 7:30am.[5] Mayoral inaugaurationAlthough Danny Avula became mayor on January 1, his inauguration was scheduled for January 11. However, that has been postponed due to the water outage, as Avula worked to get city services back in operation.[62] On January 9, Mayor Avula announced in an Instagram post that all of Saturday's inaugural events were to be cancelled.[63] Henrico School BoardThe school board in Henrico County canceled its meeting, scheduled to take place at the New Bridge Learning Center on Thursday, January 9 at 3pm. In its place, the board decided to hold a special meeting on January 9 at 3pm at 1910 E Parham Road.[64] The location was moved because of the New Bridge Learning Center being impacted by the water outage. The agenda of the meeting did not change.[65] Richmond International AirportSignificant disruptions were felt at Richmond International Airport. The airport's emergency operations center was activated and tankers had to deliver non-potable water to support essential operations, including aircraft de-icing. Portable restrooms for staff and drinking stations in both concourses were brought in. Despite these accommodations, passengers still faced considerable inconvenience due to the closure of restrooms and restaurants in the airport. No timeline was provided regarding the return of water service at the airport.[66] As of 10:30am on Thursday, January 9, the airport remained without water pressure.[16] Schools and food distributionMost school divisions in the region remained closed the entire week of January 6-10, although Chesterfield County opened all but one school on Thursday.[5] Richmond Public SchoolsRichmond Public Schools (RPS) remained closed through the end of the week.[5][47] According to RPS superintendent Jason Kamras, essential school infrastructure, like boilers and plumbing, all had to be tested and possibly repaired, which has to take place after the VDH-mandated city water testing period.[67] Kamras said that at least 10 buildings were inoperable because they relied on boiler heat, which depends on water.[68] In an email sent to students' families, Kamras said that "Meals and resources for families are my biggest concern." He said that those in need of meal assistance should reach out to the school system.[5] The school system is working with FeedMore to distribute food to students via sites at Cardinal and Henry Marsh Elementary Schools,[5][67] a plan which was developed earlier in the week.[68] Renesha Parks, the district's chief wellness officer, said that roughly 65% of the district's students relied on its school breakfast and lunch programs.[68] The organization and the district worked together from 11am to 1pm January 8 to distribute no-prep meals, non-perishable food, and cases of water.[67] The district provided meals that didn't require water and reached out to families with histories of food insecurity. David Waidelick, FeedMore's chief programs and collaborations officers, said that the organization would balance continuing support and maintaining inventory.[68] Both Kamras and city councilmember Katherine Jordan helped to distribute food and water.[67] Kamras announced that lunch would be provided January 9 and 10 to the families of any RPS students at 6 accessible locations throughout the city; these locations were Brown Middle School, Cardinal Elementary School, Carver Elementary School, Henderson Middle School, Martin Luther King, Jr., Middle School, and Richmond High School for the Arts.[67] Henrico County Public SchoolsThe school district advised anyone experiencing food insecurity to contact FeedMore and that it was working with them to provide food to families identified as in-need.[40] Over 1,000 meals were handed out on January 9. Meals were handed out in a drive-through format and included shelf stable or ready-to-eat foods to cover two breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for one child or teenager.[41] The schools were closed the entire week of the incident due to the snowy weather and water outages. If schools have to close again after the week of the incident, additional makeup days may be needed, although there was enough instructional time built in to the calendar so far that makeup days are currently not necessary. Report card distribution will be delayed to give students additional time to complete assignments and teachers to submit grades. Other timeframes, such as for testing and course registration, were also extended.[41] Hanover County Public SchoolsHanover County Public Schools remained closed the entire week of Jan 6-10.[47] Sporting eventsVCU Men's Basketball decided that its Wednesday, January 8 night game against Fordham University would be held without spectators due to the water outage. In a statement, athletic director Ed McLaughlin said that "We wanted to wait as long as possible but water service has not returned to the Siegel Center, despite assurances throughout the last two days that it would." He said that "shutting our doors to fans has major financial implications for our department and major impact on the student-athlete experience."[69] University of Richmond Women's Basketball also said that fans would not be allowed to attend its 6pm match on the same night against George Mason University; tickets would be honored at any remaining Spider Women's Basketball game this season.[69] Community centersYMCAsYMCAs in the region opened their doors to provide showers and community spaces.[19] Local residents wishing to use the spaces had to bring a photo identification (ID) for entry and a towel and toiletries if they wished to shower.[15] These included the Manchester Family YMCA the Tuckahoe Family YMCA, the Patrick Henry Family YMCA, the Ashland John Rolfe Family YMCA, the Shady Grove Family YMCA, and the Glen Allen Chester Family YMCA. Other locations had to be closed due to water outages, including the 10th Street YMCA, Atlee Station Family YMCA, Chickahominy Family YMCA, Downtown YMCA, Northside Family YMCA, and Thornton YMCA Aquatic Center at the Shady Grove YMCA.[19] Weinstein JCCThe Weinstein Jewish Community Center (JCC) on Monument Avenue also opened its doors to Richmond residents with valid IDs for use of its showers and bathrooms; residents needed to bring their own toiletries.[5] Intergovernmental aid and emergency operationsHenrico's Emergency Operations Center became active and actively dispatched resources.[19] The county declared a local state of emergency after the pressure drop,[30] which allowed them to purchase water and other supplies immediately, without having to go through normal government purchasing channels.[18] On the evening of Monday, January 6, requested resources from the Central Virginia Incident Management Team, composed of members of many local emergency response organizations, to help coordinate the response and restore its municipal water supply system.[14] Youngkin, VDH, and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (DEM) remained in contact with Avula's administration throughout the day on January 7; both departments provided technical support and emergency supplies.[31] Youngkin activated the Virginia National Guard to help with the state's emergency response efforts; he was able to do this because of the State of Emergency that he had declared. He said that hospitals were among the top priorities in the state. He was able to send 29 water tankers, including 6 from the National Guard, to help with the situation. Additionally, 1300 pallets were being sent and were planned to arrive on the night of Wednesday, January 8.[70] Chesterfield County Utilities offered its staff's technical expertise to the city as well as the contact information of contractors who may have been able to help with repairs.[14] Henrico's Department of Public Utilities provided "every available resource to help restore normal operations in the City of Richmond."[19] RumorsCounty officials told the Henrico Citizen that rumors circulating social media of a possible cutoff to western Henrico water service were false.[71] Price gougingGovernor Glenn Youngkin addressed price gouging in a press conference on Wednesday, January 8. Due to the state of emergency that had been declared statewide, it had been made illegal for stores to charge inflated prices for necessity items. However, a convenience store in Henrico County, Rocketts Market Cafe, was found charging up to $20 for cases of water, which normally cost between $4 and $7. Management at the store denied that they were increasing the prices of water cases.[72] Aftermath and investigationsAccording to the Director of the VDH's Office of Drinking Water Dwayne Roadcap, his office would be investigating "why the fail-safe systems and the redundant systems didn't work."[1] He further expressed that "You shouldn't have this kind of problem."[1] He noted that there had been noncompliance with some regulations, which was part of the reason behind the outage.[1] Youngkin, whose Executive Mansion relies on city water, spoke with House and Senate leadership to call for an after-action report to examine the failure; he said that lawmakers should prioritize fixing the issue.[60] Roadcap said that the plant's fail-safe and redundant systems should have worked, and that there is to be an investigation into why they didn't. Mayor Avula echoed these concerns but expressed that there was some difficulty in fully speaking to the causes of the crisis, given that January 8 was his sixth day on the job.[contradictory] He expressed that the city would be engaging in a thorough after-action review to more fully understand the crisis.[9] Bingham expressed on January 8 that she was unwilling to point to faulty equipment as part of the cause of the failure, given her lack of information, but that she did wish to continue investing in aging infrastructure.[9] According to RVAMag, the timeline for critical upgrades remains unclear.[11] Criticism of plant designEngineer Joel Paulsen, who has over 20 years of experience with water systems, in an interview with CBS 6, said that he had never seen a system that relied on backup batteries before generators, which are the industry standard because of their potentially-infinite running time. Additionally, he said that backup power only lasting for an hour was unacceptable for such critical infrastructure. He said that it was extremely rare for the water system of a capital city to go offline, especially after a power outage of less than three hours.[25] Further, Paulsen said that the plant should never have flooded, and that relief valves and overflows should have been designed into the system.[25] Communication delaySome Richmond residents reported lower or no water pressure before the official announcement of problems at the plant. Additionally, according to Vithoulkas, some of the issues could have been reduced if the city had communicated earlier.[34] According to Mayor Avula, the communication delay came from a desire to contact regional partners to "make sure their residents weren't going to be affected by this" before city residents. He stated that he wanted to "be able to give really clear and direct information so that people who are served by the City of Richmond know that they're impacted."[28] Vithoulkas said in a press conference January 7 that communication from the city could have improved.[34] Discussions over Henrico water systemWhen asked on January 8 whether the county would consider using their water treatment plant to supply water to the entire county, not just the western portion, Vithoulkas said that the idea would be under consideration.[17] Large parts of the water main on Staples Mill Road will be replaced by the Henrico Department of Public Utilities after a planning period this summer because of the pipe's age and the amount of repairs that had been completed in the past 18 months. During the planning process, officials will evaluate whether there is a need to install a larger line, change the pipe's path, or make any other changes. Officials will also install new connections from the pipe to properties that front Staples Mill Road on the side of the pipe.[21] Richmond personnelMayor Avula said that, while he appreciated the work of April Bingham, director of the Richmond Department of Public Utilities, he wanted to ensure that the city was employing the "right people" for the job.[8] CBS 6 noted their desire to ask questions directly to her for a report about a city press conference on the afternoon of January 9, but that she was not present.[23] Relevance across the USAccording to RVAMag, the failure is part of a larger issue facing cities across the United States: one of aging infrastructure an underfunded efforts to modernize. The failure, they said, represents the results of deferred maintenance and insufficient capital investment. They argued in favor of systemic changes to restore trust and to ensure that the city's water system would be equipped for future challenges.[11] Mae Stevens, the CEO of the American Business Water Coalition, a group composed of businesses reliant on water, called for more water infrastructure investment across the United States.[73] Predicted economic effectsColleen Heflin, an economist with the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Policy at Syracuse University, remarked to CBS 6 that she was worried over how low-income households would handle the crisis, especially because it occurred in January, a time already difficult for low-income households. She pointed to possible childcare and employment difficulties from the crisis. She predicted that it will have ripple effects through low-income households' finances and that some may be pushed over the brink. She recommended that medical providers screen for food insecurity and access to prescription drugs.[73] Mayor AvulaGoldman said in his editorial that this could be a "defining" moment for Mayor Avula, but that Avula needs to initiate reforms soon, or the moment may pass. He says that Avula has the opportunity to "dramatically cut the cord" from what he calls the "Jones-Stoney" era of Richmond politics and instead make a long-term plan to fund Richmond's increasingly crumbling infrastructure.[12] References
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