Immediate boil water advisory issued for Richmond, residents should limit water use
Jan 06, 2025
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Richmond residents are being asked to limit their water use after city officials say a power outage at Richmond's water reservoir system caused a malfunction on Monday.
The afternoon of Monday, Jan. 6, city officials announced that an immediate boil water advisory was in effect across Richmond. Residents should not only conserve water, but if they must use it, they should boil it.
"Some customers may experience a total loss of water service, while others may experience varying degrees of loss in water pressure," the city said in its release.
This advisory will be in effect until further notice.
"This advisory comes after a winter weather storm-related loss of power today impacted the City’s water reservoir system, causing the system to temporarily malfunction," the city said in its release. "Capacity restoration services are currently underway."
PHOTOS: Winter storm results in over 50 emergency calls in Chesterfield, including flipped truck
The counties of Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover all use Richmond's water supply. According to the city, these localities have removed themselves from that supply and transferred to others. Residents of those counties are not under this boil water advisory.
"Our top priority is the health and safety of our residents and neighbors. I am asking all Richmonders to limit their water usage as the team at the Department of Public Utilities works around the clock to get our water system back online,” said Mayor Danny Avula in the release. “I’m also asking residents to consider their neighbors, and only use as much water as they need – all in this together.”
While this advisory is in effect, residents should follow the below guidelines, provided by the city:
Water Use Guidelines
Do not drink tap water. This includes water dispensed from your refrigerator.
Do not use tap water to make drinks, juices or fountain drinks.
Do not drink from water fountains placed anywhere that receives city water (parks, public or private buildings on that grid, et cetera).
Do not use ice made from water poured today. Discard those ice cubes and sanitize your ice machine and trays.
Do not wash your dishes using tap water. Use boiled water for cleaning or eat on paper plates.
Do not wash your fruits or vegetables with tap water. Use boiled or bottled water.
Do not brush your teeth with tap water. Use boiled or bottled water.
Do not cook with tap water unless your food will be boiled vigorously for at least three minutes.
Water Conservation Guidelines
Do not take showers or take shorter ones.
Avoid unnecessary toilet flushing.
Avoid washing clothes for as long as you can.
Avoid washing your dishes.
Check all of your faucets, showerheads and under cabinets for drips.
For additional information on boil water advisories, visit the Virginia Department of Health's website.
Once the water system is back online, Richmond's Department of Public Utilities will begin the process of flushing the water and ensuring it's safe to drink, according to officials.
"The City will communicate new information as it becomes available through rva.gov and its social media pages," the city said in its release.
Chesterfield County provided the following statement regarding water use for its own residents:
"Due to operational issues at the City of Richmond’s water plant, Chesterfield County proactively transferred its customers off the city’s system in regional cooperation to help the city maintain its limited capacity.
While users in the city are currently under a boil water advisory, Chesterfield Utilities customers are not included.
Chesterfield is fortunate to have multiple sources it uses for its water supply, providing redundancy in its system for situations such as this. At this time, Chesterfield’s tank levels remain normal, and it’s expected that the supply will continue to meet customer demand.
We will be monitoring this situation closely as there are many other regional facilities and services located in the city that are impacted."
Chesterfield County
Hanover County provided its own statement Monday evening on Facebook:
"This afternoon, the City of Richmond informed us of an unexpected power outage at its water treatment facility. As a precaution, Hanover County has temporarily switched to an alternate water supply.
Rest assured — our water is safe to drink and use. However, we’re asking residents to help us conserve water while we’re operating on a limited supply.
Here are a few easy ways to reduce water usage:
Take shorter showers.
Avoid unnecessary toilet flushes.
Hold off on washing clothes if you can.
Postpone washing dishes if possible.
Some residents may experience lower than normal water pressure as part of the County's conservation efforts.
Please share this post with your friends and neighbors. We appreciate your cooperation and will provide updates here."
Hanover County
Henrico County also provided a statement on water for its own residents:
"A boil water advisory is not in effect in Henrico as the county was able to proactively disconnect from Richmond’s water supply system following a loss of power to the city’s reservoir system.
The power loss, which occurred today and was related to the winter storm, has resulted in a boil water advisory for the city’s water customers.
All water customers in Henrico are currently receiving water from the county’s Water Treatment Facility. Customers may experience changes in water pressure due to the county’s re-routing of service.
"Henrico County wants to assure our customers that their water is safe to drink and use,” said Bentley P. Chan, director of the Department of Public Utilities. “We have sufficient capacity from our own water system to meet the needs of our residential and business customers for some time. We are working closely with the city and other partners to ensure that our region’s water needs are met and have offered our assistance to bring Richmond’s reservoir system back online as quickly as possible.”
Henrico’s public water system has about 100,000 customers. Under normal conditions, portions of central and eastern Henrico are served by Richmond."
Henrico County