Richmond has spent about $5 million on its water system after water crisis

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The City of Richmond has already invested about $5 million in repairing and improving its water treatment plant in the wake of January's widespread water crisis.

According to a spokesperson for Mayor Danny Avula, as of Monday, Feb. 24, "roughly $5 million has been spent on recent repairs and related work at the [city's] water treatment plant." Avula shared this update during a meeting of the Richmond City Council.

The water treatment plant experienced an outage on Jan. 6, kickstarting a six-day crisis impacting the city and multiple surrounding localities, including Henrico, Hanover and Goochland counties. Through Jan. 11, citizens had to boil their tap water before using it -- if they had any water at all.

In the aftermath, weaknesses at the water treatment plant have been identified, both procedural and infrastructural. For example, the outage itself occurred because of a part failure.

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The spokesperson's full statement is as follows:

"Mayor Danny Avula addressed Richmond City Council during its meeting Monday evening. His remarks covered his seven key priorities for building a thriving Richmond: a thriving City Hall that is effective and efficient, thriving neighborhoods that meet affordable housing needs, thriving families so children are supported and have the opportunity to succeed, a thriving economy that leaves no one behind, a thriving and inclusive City that respects and protects people`s rights, a thriving and sustainably built environment that is planned for future generations, and a thriving Richmond that has the courage to honestly tell its own stories. The Mayor also provided an update on the City`s response to January`s water service disruption, during which he shared figures from the Department of Public Utilities indicating that roughly $5 million has been spent on recent repairs and related work at the water treatment plant." Spokesperson for Richmond Mayor Danny Avula

To read more about Richmond's water crisis, click here.