Henrico reopens water connections with Richmond under VDH guidance

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Henrico County reopened its water connections with Richmond -- which remains under a boil water advisory -- on Wednesday under guidance from the state.

Many Richmond neighborhoods have been under a boil water advisory since Tuesday, May 27, following issues at the city’s water treatment plant that resulted in a drop in water pressure.

Henrico, Hanover and Chesterfield counties are all connected to Richmond’s water supply. Their leaders were informed of the issue promptly and they were able to close off their systems from the city’s.

While none of these counties needed to issue a boil water advisory, Hanover and Henrico both reported some issues with water pressure on Wednesday, May 28.

Just before 10:30 p.m., Henrico leaders issued a press release announcing that it has resumed accepting water from the city. This decision was made following guidance from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), which said reconnecting would be safe.

“Our operations team has done a tremendous job since early Tuesday maintaining water service throughout the eastern end of Henrico,” said Henrico Public Utilities (DPU) director Bentley Chan in the press release. “We learned a great deal about our system in January, and that knowledge helped us to provide uninterrupted service to our customers throughout this event.”

Henrico is not under a boil water advisory and its water remains safe to drink, per officials.

Water pressure has reportedly varied throughout Henrico during the day on Wednesday. In the release, officials said water pressure should ideally return to normal "over the next several hours."

Henrico's announcement came on the heels of Richmond passing its first of two water sample tests -- however, an additional clean result is needed for the city's boil water advisory to be lifted.