HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- As Central Virginia braces for a looming "arctic blast," 8News is learning new details about Henrico County's plans to strengthen and expand water access to the county's east end. 8News sat down with Henrico County's Department of Public Utilities (DPU) director Bentley Chan on Thursday, Jan 16. Efforts to expand such access have long been in the works, but the large-scale water crisis that unfolded the week of Jan. 6 in the City of Richmond drew attention to the issue. The first winter storm of the year caused an outage at Richmond's water treatment facility and launched the city into a week without safe tap water. However, it wasn't just city residents who felt the impact. Chan reflected on the day his Henrico team learned something had happened at a Richmond water treatment facility. He first heard something went wrong that morning -- but that was just the beginning of what would become a week-long catastrophe. ALL COVERAGE: Richmond Area Water Crisis "Time went on, so we started getting worried late on Monday and started calling around," Chan said. "[We] couldn't get ... couldn't get in touch with anybody [with the City of Richmond]." It was a frantic memory Henrico leaders hope to avoid ever experiencing again. "We thought that it was a small issue -- that they would be back up [soon,]" Chan said. "And then, all of a sudden, we started hearing that the plant was totally shut down." Henrico produces and distributes its own drinking water, but mainly to the west side of the county. A contract dating back to the 1990s grouped Henrico's east end in with the City of Richmond. Because of this decades-old agreement, those Henrico residents were just as dry as Richmond during the recent crisis. Chan's team is eager to close that gap between the east and west. He said Henrico County has, holistically, worked to cultivate its separate water system since the late 1990s and early 2000s. "As things have developed, they have developed a lot faster in the western part of the county than they have in the east," Chan said. "And we've been slowly trying to shift what we provide further and further east." With the James River and Henrico's new Cobbs Creek Reservoir, Chan said the county has the supply needed. Next, crews need to physically get pipes in the ground, so larger quantities of water from Henrico's reservoirs can flow to the east. It's a more long-term project. The utilities team is regrouping this year to finalize their plan to make this happen. In the meantime, they said they're being proactive heading into this weekend. "We've learned a lot from this last situation with the city," Chan said. "And so our staff has proactively filled all of our tanks -- [they] will keep all of those full, not only through this storm, but through the duration of ... when we can be confident in the in the city's service. Because, right now, they're still trying to work things out and we will help them in any way that we can to make sure that they can be a reliable provider -- not only to us, but our neighbors." Henrico County's water contact with the city expires in 2040. 8News asked if their goal is to be so self-sufficient they do not need to re-sign and continue that partnership moving forward. Officials said it's too early to tell, but they want the different localities to continue to be able to help one another. Heading into this weekend and the winter weather it's expected to bring, Henrico officials confirmed they feel prepared if anything were to happen to the City of Richmond's aging water system infrastructure. In a Jan. 16 press release, county officials said it has staff on-site at Richmond's water treatment facility, ready to spring into action. Chan said his team understands that residents are still grappling with the aftermath of the water crisis. He said not to be afraid to reach out to county officials if you have any concerns. "We've heard from a lot of residents in this restart period that they are that they're seeing ... some irregularities," Chan said. "Maybe some cloudiness in the water. And most of that's due to just the cold weather and the air bubbles being trapped in the solution. Once those air bubbles pop and dissipate, then the water should clear up -- but if it doesn't, please give us a call at 804-727-8700, and we'll send staff out to look at the water [and talk] with you, test it if needed and flush the system." DPU crews are continuing to flush this air from lines. According to the release, as this flushing continues, the DPU has been receiving fewer reports of cloudiness. You can find additional information about Henrico water service updates here.