A boil water advisory for most of the City of Richmond has now been lifted.
Officials there say two water quality samples came back negative – which means the advisory can be lifted under state regulations.
Residents in impacted areas have been boiling their drinking water since Tuesday after clogged filters were discovered at a treatment facility.
In a statement, city leaders say they have already launched an after-action analysis to see what may have led to the issue. They plan to release that information as soon as possible.
Here's the entire statement from the city:
Richmond, VA — Today at 2:30 pm, Mayor Danny Avula announced that the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has officially lifted the Boil Water Advisory for impacted Richmond neighborhoods. This follows the results of two sets of compliance samples, both of which came back negative, passing the required tests. The Boil Water Advisory was issued to protect public health due to low or no water pressure in parts of the distribution system.
Two rounds of testing, conducted 16 - 24 hours apart, are required to confirm that the water is safe for consumption. The testing process requires collecting samples from the two impacted pressure zones to determine if they contain contaminants such as harmful bacteria. Collection of the first round of test samples began around 7:00 pm Tuesday and clean results were received Wednesday evening. The second round of samples were collected at approximately 11:40 a.m. on Wednesday afternoon and clean test results were received Thursday at 2:30 pm.
“I’m deeply grateful to the residents and businesses for enduring this unexpected boil water advisory,” said Mayor Danny Avula. “Residents and businesses expect better, and I am as committed as ever to finding the problems and fixing them. Doing this work requires being honest about what’s working and what’s not and I pledge my ongoing commitment to doing just that.”
Residents and businesses can safely resume using their household and commercial water as normal. Food service establishments impacted by the advisory can find guidance on resuming food service operations on VDH’s website.
In collaboration with VDH, the City immediately worked to conduct an after-action analysis to determine the contributing factors. Information gleaned from this initial after-action assessment will be released as soon as possible.
“We are pleased to see that the Boil Water Advisory has been lifted and recognize that incredible strain the past few days have placed on our residents and our businesses,” said City Council President Cynthia Newbille. “We are grateful to the Mayor and the entire City team who have worked tirelessly to get water operations up and running, but recognize this as a sign that we must reevaluate and improve our processes to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
