Richmond water pressure improving, but some Fan, Westhampton customers still reporting low pressure

RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond's Department of Public Utilities said water pressure was returning to normal across the metro Friday evening following a 36-inch water main break, but some customers are still reporting low pressure Saturday.

As of around 2 p.m. Saturday, DPU said crews are investigating low pressure reports on Kensington Avenue in the Fan and in the Westhampton community. CBS 6 also received multiple reports from residents in Westhampton, the Near West End and near the University of Richmond of continued low pressure Saturday morning.

Customers experiencing low pressure are asked to call the DPU Call Center at 804-646-4646 so crews can investigate, as a hydrant may need to be flushed in their area.

DPU said water storage tanks are filling and returning to full capacity. Repair crews and contractors were on site throughout Friday assessing the damage. Preliminary access work and staging is scheduled to begin Saturday, with repair work set to begin Monday.

DPU clarified that earlier references to customers experiencing low or no pressure were specific to pressure within customer homes, not within the distribution system itself. Out of an abundance of caution, DPU sampled across the entire distribution system, and those results will be provided to the Virginia Department of Health for review when completed.

"Drinking water remained safe during these activities and continues to be due to the decisive action taken by staff and their dedication to our customers," officials said.

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Officials said low pressure in the water system was detected around 1:30 a.m. Friday. Crews traced the problem to a break in a 36-inch line parallel to the canal, below Windsor Farms near the city's water treatment plant.

DPU Senior Director Anthony "Scott" Morris said crews acted quickly once the break was identified.

"They quickly responded to the situation, identified a 36-inch line that needed to be isolated, they quickly isolated the line, and then shortly thereafter, they've been slowly increasing pressure in the system, restoring the system volume," Morris said.

Officials said the issue has been isolated, stopping the major leak. Full repairs, however, will take significantly longer.

"Best case scenario, you're looking at, if everything goes perfect and there's no issues, probably two to three weeks, and if there are issues and it's more complex, it could be up to four to six weeks," Morris said.

While some customers had water restored within hours, others continued to report low pressure or no water at all throughout the day. DPU leaders said they are still investigating how many homes were impacted.

For Henrico resident David Gray, the timing could not have been worse.

"It got to a dribble. We lost a lot of pressure," Gray said. "It definitely went... I was up at probably four or five this morning making coffee, and OK, something's not right."

With triple-digit heat in the forecast for the holiday weekend, Gray said the situation was unsettling.

"It's a little concerning. You don't want to see your water go bye-bye when it's this hot," Gray said.

The outage brought back difficult memories for some Windsor Farms residents who lived through Richmond's water crisis in 2025.

"I was a little concerned. I remembered the water crisis a few years ago," Windsor Farms resident Chris Howell said.

DPU leaders stressed this was an isolated water main break and not a problem with the water treatment plant. Morris said unlike last year's water crisis, the incident did not require a boil water advisory because water pressure never dropped below 20 PSI — the threshold that would trigger one. City officials said the water remains safe to drink.

WATCH: Richmond water main break will take weeks to replace, but 'pressure should be going back up,' officials say

Despite the timeline for permanent repairs, officials said water pressure should continue to improve and that no further disruptions are anticipated.

"Right now everybody's pressure should be going back up. As the day progresses, it will be a little bit higher. We don't anticipate this having any type of impact long term," Morris said.

Henrico County is also feeling the effects of the break. Henrico Public Utilities said in a social media post around 2 p.m. that it is actively working on lower-than-normal pressure issues reported in the area south of Broad Street near Libbie Avenue.

"This is due to valve closures needed to isolate a water main break in the City of Richmond," Henrico Public Works & Public Utilities said. "Henrico Public Utilities crews are working to slowly open a large valve to provide additional pressure from the Henrico Water Treatment Plant. This careful process of opening the large valve is done to avoid pressure waves and water main breaks in Henrico's system."

Henrico officials said they expect pressure to return to normal by Friday evening.

Hanover County officials said that while the break does not directly affect its water supply, the county has made operational adjustments, including slightly reducing water pressure in the Mechanicsville pressure zone, to help support the regional water system.

"Customers should notice little to no impact," Hanover officials said.

The pipe that broke is estimated to be between 50 and 60 years old and has already been identified for future replacement.

"As things age, they become more dilapidated, more in need of repair," Morris said. "It gets to the point where the point repairs aren't adequate enough to address the needs and then you have to do a capital investment to replace the entirety of the lines."

Officials said a full replacement of the pipe is being considered on a one-to-two year strategic timeline.

City crews coordinated with regional partners — including Henrico, Hanover and Chesterfield counties — to balance system demands across the nine pressure zones in Richmond's water distribution system during the outage.

"When we ask to reduce the demands on the system, they do as much as they can to reduce demand on the system to preserve that capacity holistically," Morris said. "And then the same goes for them when they have a water line break in their system and they need extra flow coming from us."

Morris said the city's commitment to residents remains clear regardless of how long repairs take.

"Our commitment to our citizens is that we're going to make sure we repair it quickly, get them back to service as soon as possible," Morris said.

The water main break comes as Richmond and surrounding counties had already asked residents to voluntarily conserve water due to Virginia's ongoing drought. Richmond's water treatment plant supplies water to Richmond as well as Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, Goochland and Powhatan counties.

A city spokesperson acknowledged the anxiety the break may have caused for residents who experienced Richmond's water crisis in January 2025.

"Crews have been working on assessing and isolating the problem since the early hours," the spokesperson said. "We understand that this is very worrisome for folks, especially for those who were here in 2025 and with the heat."

Residents who are still experiencing low pressure or have no water are asked to call Richmond's Department of Public Utilities 24-hour service line at 804-646-4646 so crews can investigate. Henrico residents with questions or concerns can call Henrico Public Utilities at 804-501-5025.

Officials also urged residents to sign up for CivicReady, the city's notification platform, to receive timely alerts about water service disruptions.

"It's a voluntary program, which means that if you sign up, you'll get the notifications," Morris said. "We want all of our customers to get those timely notifications."

This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.