WATCH: Mayor Avula hosts press conference following release of preliminary report on water crisis

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Richmond Mayor Danny Avula held a press conference Friday morning following the release of the preliminary after-action report on the water crisis.

The press conference was held in the morning on Friday, Feb. 14 in regard to the report, which was released in the evening on Thursday, Feb. 13.

The report, conducted by HNTB, includes a breakdown of events that occurred on Monday, Jan. 6, when the Richmond water treatment plant malfunctioned after a power outage during a winter storm. It also includes some initial recommendations for the city.

From Jan. 6 to Saturday, Jan. 11, water service in Richmond, as well as the counties of Henrico, Hanover and Goochland, was significantly impacted. Some residents had low water pressure, though many had none at all. Even then, any water from the taps of homes and businesses needed to be boiled before use.

As the initial report focuses on the events of Jan. 6, Avula was asked if the final report would detail information about operations and equipment before the event.

"The way we initially scoped out the work was really to have the preliminary report focus on Jan. 6, and then to come up with recommendations to invest in the plant, both from an infrastructure standpoint and from a person, process, procedure standpoint," Avula said.

As for the reports conducted on the water crisis by both Henrico and Hanover counties, which both flagged that Richmond's delays or lapses in communication affected the counties' responses in the initial hours of the crisis, Avula said he felt there were appropriate communications between the city and the counties.

Avula said the operations director notified the counties at around 9 a.m. on Jan. 6. Though he said there were inconsistencies between the counties' and city's reports, he said he was not overly concerned.

Regarding how changes will be made moving forward, Department of Public Utilities' interim director Scott Morris said a process to revise training and standardized operating procedures has been implemented and will roll out fully in a few months.