Chesterfield isolates county water supply after Richmond plant flooding; local plant restored within 24 hours

George Hayes, director of the Department of Utilities, told the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors that Chesterfield isolated its water distribution system after the City of Richmond's water treatment plant flooded on Monday, Jan. 6, and restored local production at the county's Addison Evans treatment plant early the next day.

Hayes said, "Chesterfield County's public water system continues to operate as designed," and that the county had the Addison Evans plant back online "producing clean potable water on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 02:20 p.m." He told the board the county supplies about 123,000 customer accounts and serves a population of roughly 360,000.

Chesterfield's system draws from three separate sources and treatment plants, Hayes said: the Swift Creek Reservoir treated at Addison Evans, the James River treated at the City of Richmond plant, and Lake Chesdin treated by the Appomattox River Water Authority. Hayes told the board those multiple sources and interconnections provide operational redundancy and allowed Chesterfield to isolate its system by closing three points of entry from Richmond once it became clear Richmond's plant remained offline.

Hayes described the county's response timeline: the virtual emergency operations center was activated on Sunday, Jan. 5; Chesterfield staff completed routine storm preparations and confirmed generator and fuel readiness; and Hayes contacted regional partners on Jan. 4 to alert them to the county's status. On Monday morning, Jan. 6, Chesterfield Utilities learned of a power outage at Richmond's plant at about 7 a.m. and reduced its supply to preserve the region's limited capacity. Hayes said Chesterfield was later notified that the Richmond plant had experienced flooding and that tank reserves were declining. The county then isolated its distribution system "before the city announced their conservation efforts as well as their boil water advisory," Hayes said.

Staff and contractors worked overnight to return Addison Evans to service; Hayes said county crews and contractors completed pipe work and testing that allowed the plant to resume producing potable water within about 24 hours. He credited investments in interconnections, generator backup at critical facilities, written emergency operating procedures and staff training for the prompt response.

Hayes also described regional coordination. Chesterfield participated in calls with the Central Virginia Incident Management Team — a regional coordination group that included Chesterfield Fire and EMS, Chesterfield Police and other jurisdictions — and sent water operators to assist at the Richmond plant. Chesterfield Fire and EMS deployed a 2,500-gallon water tanker and crews to Chippenham Hospital, and county resources supported delivery of potable water by tanker truck to the VCU trauma center and the Veterans Affairs hospital in Richmond, Hayes said. He said Chesterfield was the only large regional utility supplying potable water to the area until boil-water advisories for other jurisdictions were lifted on Saturday, Jan. 11.

Hayes thanked county communications and constituent services staff for handling customer inquiries so Utilities could focus on operations. He also thanked the Appomattox River Water Authority and its Executive Director, Robert Wilson, for coordination during the incident. Hayes said Chesterfield will continue to work with Richmond officials, including interim Richmond utilities director Dr. Scott Morris, as Richmond rebuilds its treatment plant and reviews its distribution system.

Board members praised Hayes and county utility staff for the response and said they would pursue merit awards for key employees. No formal motions or votes were recorded during this agenda item.

Chesterfield officials reiterated that the county has been pursuing an additional, fourth supply in the Ttitle Basin (described by board members during discussion) to further strengthen regional reliability.