Boil water advisory lifted for Richmond neighborhoods

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The boil water advisory issued for many Richmond neighborhoods on Tuesday has been lifted, according to Mayor Danny Avula.

City officials announced at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 29, that the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) had officially lifted the boil water advisory for impacted Richmond neighborhoods.

The advisory was lifted following two sets of samples that came back negative for harmful bacteria, passing the required tests.

The second round of samples were collected at around 11:40 a.m. on Wednesday, May 28, and came back clean of harmful bacteria at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, according to city officials.

“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.”

The city said residents and businesses can now safely use household and commercial water as normal.

Restaurants impacted by the advisory can find guidance on resuming food service operations on VDH’s website.

The city said it has worked with VDH to carry out an after-action analysis to "determine the contributing factors," with information learned to be released "as soon as possible."

The boil water advisory initially came after officials said filters clogged at the water treatment plant twice on Tuesday.