Colonial Heights distributes safe drinking water after boil advisory issued over line break

COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. (WRIC) -- Colonial Heights is distributing safe drinking water to residents Thursday after a boil water advisory was issued Wednesday due to a waterline break.

On Thursday, April 2, the city announced that it has activated a water distribution site from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Colonial Heights Technical Center, as the city remains under a boil water advisory after a waterline break caused a widespread outage on Wednesday, April 1.

The city issued the advisory as a safety precaution due to the likelihood of E. coli in the drinking water affecting citizens and businesses -- including any Colonial Heights water customers and those who live outside city limits.

City leaders shared that the city's contractor, Southern Construction, completed the repair of the 16-inch PVC cater main in Old Town Creek, behind the Southpark Crossing shopping center, at 2 a.m. on Thursday. The damaged pip segment had a full-length longitudinal split.

The city's department of utilities staff have been flushing the water system and will begin the first round of water sampling on Thursday morning.

"Please be aware that several rounds of bacteriological testing are required, and results must meet state safety standards consecutively before the water can be cleared for drinking," city leaders said.

While the city cannot provide a specific timeline for when the water will be considered safe to consume, officials confirmed that the boil water advisory will extend beyond one day.

The city shared that it will continue to provide updates as testing progresses and will notify residents once the water is deemed safe for consumption.

Anyone looking for more information is urged to contact Colonial Heights Public Works at 804-520-9334 or publicworks@colonialheightsva.gov.

No further details are available as of the time of reporting.