RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The city of Richmond has selected the firm that will investigate its recent, widespread water crisis. Through an over $200,000 contract, it will develop an independent after-action report, detailing what went wrong. The crisis began the morning of Monday, Jan. 6, with a malfunction at the city's water treatment plant. In the days that followed, not only were some Richmond residents and businesses without water, but some in the nearby counties of Henrico, Hanover and Goochland also had their water service disrupted. Several questions have been raised in the aftermath, many of which city officials have been unable to answer. ALL COVERAGE: Richmond Area Water Crisis In a Jan. 22 press release, Richmond leaders announced the firm that will be responsible for providing these answers: HNTB Corporation, an infrastructure development firm originally based in Kansas City. A spokesperson for Avula's office told 8News that its contract is valued at $234,000. According to the city, HNTB has operated for more than 100 years. Its infrastructural specialties are diverse, with water systems among them. "Having HNTB probe the water treatment plant outage will help officials better understand the events that transpired and provide a clear assessment of the performance of plant equipment and personnel during the outage," the city said in its release, adding that these efforts will put the city one step closer to "identifying root causes" of the crisis. HNTB was chosen through a collaborative effort between Mayor Danny Avula, his administration, Richmond City Council's president Cynthia Newbille and its vice president Katherine Jordan, according to the city. The spokesperson told 8News that this firm was selected from among about a dozen options. After interviewing six of them, the city performed follow-ups until it could narrow it down to three potential firms. Of those, HNTB was selected. “I am committed to having a thorough investigation into what happened at the water treatment plant last week and bringing HNTB on board is a key step in that process,” Avula said in the release. “As we move forward, my partners on City Council and I will keep the public informed and up to date on the after-action process.”