Richmond clears water advisory after latest crisis exposes system flaws

by Markus Schmidt, Virginia Mercury
May 29, 2025

Richmond’s boil water advisory has officially been lifted after two consecutive rounds of water tests came back clean, city officials announced Thursday afternoon, ending a three-day disruption that once again exposed vulnerabilities in the city’s aging water system.

At 2:30 p.m., Mayor Danny Avula announced that the Virginia Department of Health had cleared the city’s water as safe for consumption following negative results from required compliance samples.

“I’m deeply grateful to the residents and businesses for enduring this unexpected boil water advisory,” Avula said. “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.”

Testing began Tuesday night after a sudden drop in water pressure across large parts of the city led to emergency conservation measures and boil orders for neighborhoods served by the Ginter Park tank. 

The first samples were taken at 7 p.m. Tuesday and came back negative by Wednesday evening. A second round collected late Wednesday morning also cleared, with final results received Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

“I’m encouraged that the first round of water sample results has come back with a negative result,” Avula had said Wednesday evening. “Some parts of Richmond are still under a boil water advisory as we await the second sample test, but this is very promising. We’re hopeful for full clearance soon and are so grateful for everyone’s patience and care.”

Residents and businesses across impacted areas — including the Fan, Byrd Park, Carytown, Brookland Park, Jackson Ward, Oregon Hill, and parts of Southside — can now resume normal water use. Food service operations are being directed to state guidance on how to safely reopen.

“This is a sign that we must reevaluate and improve our processes to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” City Council President Cynthia Newbille said, praising the city’s emergency response but calling for systemic improvements.

The boil advisory was triggered by an operational failure early Tuesday morning when clogged filters at the city’s water treatment plant led to low or no pressure across the system. 

Internal records obtained by WTVR indicate that a May 12 maintenance request to clean plate settlers — filters that remove sludge — was postponed two days later because operations staff said “this was not a good time.”

“These plates are critical,” engineer Joel Paulsen told the station. “If they’re not cleaned, sediment overwhelms the system and clogs the filters.”

City officials have confirmed high turbidity was to blame for this week’s filter failure but have not addressed whether the maintenance delay was a factor. Interim utilities director Scott Morris told city council Wednesday that a full root cause analysis will take several weeks and that new maintenance protocols are in development. 

This week’s boil advisory followed a cascading system-wide failure in January that left large parts of Richmond and surrounding counties without reliable drinking water for several days. That event prompted a damning investigation by the Virginia Department of Health, which found the incident “completely avoidable” and cited “a long chain of preventable failures.”

In response to this week’s pressure drop, the city quickly resumed coordination with state health officials and ramped up emergency responses. This time, unlike in January, the city began delivering bottled water to nine high-priority populations — including hospitals, senior homes, public housing complexes, and childcare providers — distributing roughly 140,000 bottles since Tuesday.

Still, the incident is likely to draw renewed scrutiny to Richmond’s aging infrastructure and emergency preparedness. A 314-page report released in April identified more than $63 million in needed upgrades on top of $60 million already allocated in the city’s capital improvement plan. Among the recommendations: modernized electrical systems, automated emergency protocols, and a complete redesign of the clearwell overflow system.

That overhaul is now under a state-mandated corrective action plan following a second formal notice of violation tied to the January breakdown.

In the current situation, the city said it reached out early Tuesday morning to water customers in Chesterfield and Henrico counties to reduce pressure on the shared system. Avula noted that public alerts were issued later in the day because the city first had to assess the scope of the issue and coordinate a response.

Morris, the city’s interim Department of Public Utilities director, added that the coordination with surrounding counties “allowed us to have more time to recover the facility and then make a plan of action to move forward.”

Still, some residents expressed confusion as city messaging shifted throughout the day. An initial 9 a.m. statement downplayed the impact on drinking water, only for a full boil advisory to be issued a few hours later.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the boil water advisory in Richmond was officially lifted on Thursday, May 29, at 2:30 p.m., following two rounds of negative test results.

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