HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A water main break at 7th and Canal Streets in downtown Richmond is having a serious impact on water in Henrico County.
"We're here to share an update on a very serious situation with our water system that emerged last night and continues to represent a major challenge for our county and much of our region," Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas said at a Friday morning press conference. "Last night, we opened our Emergency Operations Center, and we will treat this issue as a state of emergency for as long as needed."
Henrico officials report water service remains stable and safe to drink despite ongoing impacts from a water main break in the City of Richmond.
The Richmond water main break happened Thursday afternoon or evening and reduced water flow to the city's Church Hill Tank.
"We're doing everything that we can ensure that our residents and community have water to meet their needs," Vithoulkas said. "At this time, many residents may experience low pressure. Henrico County is not under a boil water advisory. While the water is safe for consumption, we are strongly encouraging everyone to limit their use to the extent possible."
The broken Richmond water main may not be fixed until Monday and if there are any issues with the pipe between now and then, access to water may become an issue.
"We are coordinating with the city to open and close valves and keep water flowing to customers, while also minimizing the stress on the area of the water main break," Vithoulkas said. "Now, as you can imagine, this takes a delicate balance, and the situation continues to evolve."
Watch: "If that pipe fails, then we're going to be out of water"
During the overnight hours, Henrico worked overnight to fill the county's water storage tanks during low usage hours, a process that will continue nightly until repairs are completed, the county advised. Henrico residents should expect water pressure fluctuations during this time.
"We've been routing water from our water treatment facility in western Henrico to refill reserve tanks in our eastern area," Vithoulkas said. "Last night, when overall system use was low, we were able to begin to replenish these tanks, but not to the extent that we would like. When they're at capacity, the tanks can provide us with 24 to 48 hours of normal water use. At the rate that we're moving now, we should have our reserve tanks full sometime tomorrow. This is less than ideal."
Officials are asking residents to conserve water where possible while repair work continues.
A water distribution center has been established at the former Best Products site at 1400 Best Plaza Drive. The center will operate from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, May 30, providing drive-through service with a limit of one case of bottled water per car. A second distribution site, at Harvie Elementary School, 3401 Harvie Road, will open Saturday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
"The reason that we have the water behind us is because there's water that's being pumped through that through that pipe [in Richmond] and it is in distress. We're being told that that repair could take until Monday. So if that, if that pipe fails, then we're going to be out of water. So that is why we activated the Emergency Operations Center," Vithoulkas said. "[We're] planning for the worst but hoping for the best."
County officials describe the measure as precautionary rather than due to any safety concerns with the current water supply.
"It is frustrating"
"These issues have in particular, impacted residents of our two districts, Varina and Fairfield, as these areas of Eastern and Central Henrico depend almost entirely on the city of Richmond for their water," Varina District supervisor Tyrone Nelson said at the press conference. "It is frustrating that we again find ourselves having to resolve a major issue stemming from a water treatment plant and distribution system that is not in our district, in our county."
"As the city's largest water customer, our county, our residents in particular, deserve better than this," Nelson said while calling for changes. "As a short term measure, Henrico has asked to be able to maintain a staff presence at the city's water treatment plant, to support, to say, to enhance the city's efforts by having experienced engineers on site like we have and bringing additional resources to the table, we can help ensure that proper maintenance occurs, that best practices are followed, and that communications are timely."
What Happened?
Richmond's Department of Public Utilities is planning a permanent repair to a water main break that occurred at 7th and Canal Streets in downtown Richmond.
The break reduced water flow to the city's Church Hill Tank.
An overnight repair was scheduled during low-demand hours to minimize the impact to customers.
During the repair work, Richmond's Department of Public Utilities determined that a permanent repair could not take place without affecting water supplies to Richmond and Henrico County.
The permanent repair of the broken main will likely take place early next week. The city said DPU would coordinate the timing of that repair with Henrico County to ensure no impact to regional water service.
This situation arose hours after the City of Richmond lifted its boil water advisory after water treatment plant maintenance issues.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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