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Henrico isolates its water system after Richmond plant filter failure; residents asked to conserve
Summary
Henrico County officials said they isolated the county’s water system after a City of Richmond treatment-plant filter failure reduced flow and pressure early May 27. County officials said service to Henrico remained steady by relying on county production and reserves, and asked residents to conserve while Richmond recovers.
Henrico County officials said Tuesday evening that the county temporarily isolated its water system after a filter failure at a City of Richmond treatment plant reduced flow and pressure early that morning, and that residents should conserve water where possible.
"We have been in constant communication with our partners at the city of Richmond," Bentley Chan, Henrico County director of public utilities, told the Henrico County Board of Supervisors at its May 27 meeting. He said Richmond notified Henrico staff of the shutdown around 4 a.m. and Henrico executed emergency operations steps worked out after a January event to protect the county’s supply.
County staff closed valves at the city–county border to isolate Henrico’s system, Chan said, and the county is being served by its own production and eastern-reserve tanks. "We have only drawn down 1 of our, I think 5 or 6 tanks, in the Eastern part of Henrico," Chan said, adding that most reserves remained in place. He told the board residents should not see changes in flow or pressure but should "be mindful" and conserve when possible.
The county manager also told the board he had been in frequent contact with Richmond’s officials and publicly commended the Richmond mayor for communication during the incident.
Chan said Richmond was making recovery efforts and that, "hopefully, by tomorrow morning, they will be back at normal production, at which point we can start to look at how to bring their feed back into our system." The county did not announce any boil-water notices or service interruptions affecting Henrico residents.
The board did not take formal action beyond receiving the update. County officials said they would continue to monitor the situation and coordinate with Richmond and regional partners as Richmond restores its plant.
Ending
Chan asked residents to conserve "when you can" while the region recovers and said county staff would continue to provide updates as needed.
