Concerns over ‘Richmond Ready Alerts’ grow amid ongoing boil water advisory

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Amid a boil water advisory covering multiple parts of Richmond, residents are expressing concerns about the city's emergency alerts system.

According to Richmond City officials, in the early morning hours of Tuesday, May 27, high turbidity -- or cloudiness -- in the water flowing through the water treatment plant clogged its water filters, which temporarily reduced finished water production.

Officials sent out a statement at about 9 a.m. that read, in part: "As per SOPs, DPU and City considered issuing a localized boil advisory, but, after a thorough assessment, it was determined that no advisory was necessary."

However, hours later at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, the city issued a boil water advisory for many neighborhoods. This advisory was then expanded later in the day to residents living in Southside areas.

MORE: Richmond’s boil water advisory could be lifted by Thursday if all goes well

As these announcements rolled out, many residents reported not receiving the "Richmond ReadyAlerts" -- or emergency alerts from the city -- about the advisory.

In an afternoon virtual media press briefing, 8News asked city officials about this.

"If a resident didn't get it, they need to sign up for Richmond Ready so they can get those notifications," said Scott Morris, director of the Richmond Department of Public Utilities (DPU). "Go into the account, make sure you're set up and then adjust your settings for those notifications."

Some residents then wrote in the press briefing's chat that they've confirmed they have signed up, but they still have not received alerts. City officials asked for more specific details and said they would look into it.

MORE: ‘Here we go again,' Richmond businesses, residents on edge as water problems continue

During a second press briefing Tuesday night, Mayor Danny Avula provided more insight on how many people received the day's Richmond ReadyAlerts.

"The first update that went out around 11:00 a.m. went out to about 3,800 users -- and then the second update went out to a little over 5,000 users," Avula said. "If people are not receiving those -- if people registered and are not receiving them -- we do need to do some diagnostic work to figure out why that's happened."

Gabe Lugo, a public safety and crisis communications consultant, told 8News that the human element is a major flaw of opt-in emergency alert systems.

"Some folks will sign up one time — they forget to change those settings or even configure them correctly the first time and then they're missing alerts," Lugo said.

Lugo explained to 8News that the more widely used Wireless Emergency Alerts system could have been used, adding that it is a better alternative.

How can I conserve water during a boil water advisory?

"They [Wireless Emergency Alerts] don't depend on that opt-in ... that user end of the equation," Lugo said. "It just goes out to every cell phone automatically."

8News reached out to the city about why Richmond ReadyAlerts is used instead of Wireless Emergency Alerts. We also asked how many alert systems are currently being used and which is used as the primary one. Finally, we asked if there is a support line for users to report issues.

We have not received a response as of the time of reporting. However, the mayor's office let 8News know they have received the request and should provide a response by Wednesday morning.

This is a developing story. Stick with 8News for updates.