DPU: Water plant back near full production; boil advisory to remain until state samples clear

Director Scott Morrison, Department of Public Utilities, told the Governmental Operations Standing Committee that Richmond’s water treatment plant has returned to near-full production but a boil water advisory will remain until state-required compliance samples clear.

Morrison said “Last night, we had about 20 PSI recovery in the system” and that the utility took the compliance sample required by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). “That sample will be coming out of the incubator, roughly around 09:00 tonight,” he said, adding a second compliance sample will complete the 24-hour required series.

The advisory matters because city staff must show consecutive passing compliance samples to VDH before lifting the boil water notice, a step Morrison said officials are monitoring closely. He described the treatment plant as producing roughly 60 to 65 million gallons per day and said turbidity readings from filters were within normal ranges.

Morrison described routine filter maintenance and the backwash sequence used to purge sediment, and said the plant underwent multiple sequential backwashes during the event. He told the committee that the plant has 22 filters, “8 of them are in service and 4 are out of service,” and that three or four filters remain under repair with parts on order.

Council members pressed whether an oxidation system referenced in local reporting had been offline since winter; Morrison replied, “I do not know the reason why the system was offline since December. I can go back and research it for you and give you an update.” He said that, based on current information, that oxidation system did not drive the turbidity event that led to the advisory.

The committee also discussed reservoir and tank capacities. Morrison said Bird Park Reservoir holds about 55,000,000 gallons and was operating at reduced capacity for construction (about half full), while the Ginter Park tank is roughly a 1,000,000‑gallon tank and was not large enough to compensate for Bird Park’s reduced volume. He told members that greater reservoir capacity would have provided more buffer time to recover filters and “most likely would not have had a boil water advisory.”

Morrison said the utility has developed new standard operating procedures (SOPs) for communications and other recovery actions after earlier incidents in January and the recent fluoride issue; he said those SOPs improved response and public notification. He committed to providing council with a timeline for a root‑cause analysis and to report back on maintenance records and findings.

Next steps: Morrison said the first compliance sample result was due the night of the meeting and a follow-up incubated sample would be ready the following afternoon; he told the committee he expected an update on whether the advisory could be lifted shortly after the second sample. Staff also committed to return with additional documentation requested by council, including the status of the oxidation system and records of maintenance since January.

The committee’s staff list of requested follow-ups (captured at meeting close) also asked DPU for “any preliminary information on an after‑action review for the events this week at the water treatment plant.”