Hanover County residents to see water return to systems on Thursday

HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Officials said Hanover County residents will start to see water returning to their systems on Thursday, however the boil water advisory for parts of the county is still in place. In an update provided by the county during a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 9, officials said since the 4:30 p.m. update on Wednesday, Jan. 8, water began returning to their systems. Hanover County Administrator John Budesky said the county was able to turn on its pumps to fully fill and pressurize the county's system at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday. "As our residents woke up this morning, we were able to have water almost back to normalized pressures here in Hanover County," Budesky said. Budesky said residents located west of Interstate 95 are not under a boil water advisory. However, residents east of Interstate 95 -- which includes Kings Charter, Rutland and areas near the airport -- are still under a boil water advisory through the Mechanicsville area. "While you are under a boil water notice, you can use the water to shower, wash clothes, wash dishes," Budesky said. "Particularly, the boil water notice is to address cooking and drinking purposes to ensure that is safe for everybody." Budesky said the county anticipates that the boil water advisory for parts of Hanover County will continue through this weekend. "As we are returning to some levels of normalcy, conservation is going to continue to be key as it relates to the water resource," Budesky said. "We need to make sure the lines are pressurized so we can do that testing and get back to normal operations as it relates to no longer needing the boil water notice." This comes after the county reported low water pressures on Tuesday, Jan. 7 due to a malfunction at Richmond's water reservoir system and issued a boil water advisory for parts of the county in response. Where to get water in Hanover County Budesky said the county will have water distributions for residents at the following locations from noon to 7 p.m. on Thursday: Water bottle distribution sites Atlee High School (football field parking lot), located at 9414 Atlee Station Road Cold Harbor Elementary School, located at 6740 Cold Harbor Road Sites to receive potable water in containers residents must bring with them Hanover County Government Complex, located at 7516 County Complex Road Bass Pro Shops, located at 11550 Lakeridge Parkway in Ashland Residents can call 804-365-6024 to receive additional information regarding water service in Hanover County. Residents with medical needs are also advised to call this number to share their needs with the county to receive support. Additional information provided Budesky said Memorial Regional Hospital has gone off of "diversion status" as of midnight, which means the hospital is no longer turning away patients showing up at their emergency room. "They were taking in heart attack patients and stroke patients only for a period of time, and now that is back open to the general public," Budesky said. During the press conference, Budesky said the county is committed to "after-action reporting" to identify what happened in this instance and prevent this issue from occurring again. "This crisis that we're dealing with now is unprecedented in our history as it relates to our water sources other than when we've had hurricane impacts," Budesky said. "We know this has been a major impact. Some of our residents have now been without full water for 24 to up to 48 hours." Matt Longshore, director of Hanover County’s Public Utilities said there is no possibility for those located west of I-95 in Hanover County to be put on a boil water advisory when asked about the potential for the county to issue and advisory similar to Henrico County. "The reason for this is when we learned of the issues Richmond was experiencing earlier this week, our staff was able to isolate that pressure zone where it's completely fed by our Doswell water treatment plant," Longshore said. "So there has been no intermingling of water sources throughout this whole crisis." At the conference, Longshore also addressed some concerns about the water usage by car washes still operating in the county. He said the operation of car washes does not infringe on the county's conservation of water because they use recycled water. "So, as a car goes through an automated car wash, the water in the detergent component goes through the car wash, washes the cars, and that water is collected at the bottom of the car wash, cleaned and recycled through the car wash," Budesky said. Longshore added that any car wash that was not receiving water through the public system, was running off of recycled water.

HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Officials said Hanover County residents will start to see water returning to their systems on Thursday, however the boil water advisory for parts of the county is still in place.

In an update provided by the county during a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 9, officials said since the 4:30 p.m. update on Wednesday, Jan. 8, water began returning to their systems.

Hanover County Administrator John Budesky said the county was able to turn on its pumps to fully fill and pressurize the county's system at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

"As our residents woke up this morning, we were able to have water almost back to normalized pressures here in Hanover County," Budesky said.

Budesky said residents located west of Interstate 95 are not under a boil water advisory.

However, residents east of Interstate 95 -- which includes Kings Charter, Rutland and areas near the airport -- are still under a boil water advisory through the Mechanicsville area.

"While you are under a boil water notice, you can use the water to shower, wash clothes, wash dishes," Budesky said. "Particularly, the boil water notice is to address cooking and drinking purposes to ensure that is safe for everybody."

Budesky said the county anticipates that the boil water advisory for parts of Hanover County will continue through this weekend.

"As we are returning to some levels of normalcy, conservation is going to continue to be key as it relates to the water resource," Budesky said. "We need to make sure the lines are pressurized so we can do that testing and get back to normal operations as it relates to no longer needing the boil water notice."

This comes after the county reported low water pressures on Tuesday, Jan. 7 due to a malfunction at Richmond's water reservoir system and issued a boil water advisory for parts of the county in response.

Where to get water in Hanover County

Budesky said the county will have water distributions for residents at the following locations from noon to 7 p.m. on Thursday:

Water bottle distribution sites

  • Atlee High School (football field parking lot), located at 9414 Atlee Station Road
  • Cold Harbor Elementary School, located at 6740 Cold Harbor Road

Sites to receive potable water in containers residents must bring with them

  • Hanover County Government Complex, located at 7516 County Complex Road
  • Bass Pro Shops, located at 11550 Lakeridge Parkway in Ashland

Residents can call 804-365-6024 to receive additional information regarding water service in Hanover County. Residents with medical needs are also advised to call this number to share their needs with the county to receive support.

Additional information provided

Budesky said Memorial Regional Hospital has gone off of "diversion status" as of midnight, which means the hospital is no longer turning away patients showing up at their emergency room.

"They were taking in heart attack patients and stroke patients only for a period of time, and now that is back open to the general public," Budesky said.

During the press conference, Budesky said the county is committed to "after-action reporting" to identify what happened in this instance and prevent this issue from occurring again.

"This crisis that we're dealing with now is unprecedented in our history as it relates to our water sources other than when we've had hurricane impacts," Budesky said. "We know this has been a major impact. Some of our residents have now been without full water for 24 to up to 48 hours."

Matt Longshore, director of Hanover County’s Public Utilities said there is no possibility for those located west of I-95 in Hanover County to be put on a boil water advisory when asked about the potential for the county to issue and advisory similar to Henrico County.

"The reason for this is when we learned of the issues Richmond was experiencing earlier this week, our staff was able to isolate that pressure zone where it's completely fed by our Doswell water treatment plant," Longshore said. "So there has been no intermingling of water sources throughout this whole crisis."

At the conference, Longshore also addressed some concerns about the water usage by car washes still operating in the county. He said the operation of car washes does not infringe on the county's conservation of water because they use recycled water.

"So, as a car goes through an automated car wash, the water in the detergent component goes through the car wash, washes the cars, and that water is collected at the bottom of the car wash, cleaned and recycled through the car wash," Budesky said.

Longshore added that any car wash that was not receiving water through the public system, was running off of recycled water.