‘We don’t have the answers:’ Water crisis in Central Virginia leaves residents and businesses struggling
HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Parts of Central Virginia are still grappling with water outages, leaving many residents without access to clean water and local businesses scrambling to adapt. Hanover County remains under a boil water advisory, with no clear timeline from officials on when the situation will return to normal. Hanover County informed 8News around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, that they expect the water to be fully restored by Thursday. But many residents, especially those living east of Interstate 95, including Mechanicsville and parts of the Chickahominy District, are still in limbo. One such affected area includes Giambanco’s Italian Restaurant in Hanover, which has been without water since yesterday. While the restaurant remains open for takeout, owner Felippo Giambanco shared the challenges they’ve faced, including using a personal well to fill buckets for handwashing stations and saving water in sinks and pots to stay operational. "We don't know when water's going to come back," Giambanco said. "If it's 3 o clock, 4 o clock, yes we can open, but if it's not we do another day like yesterday: where we open up and shut down and have no income." The restaurant was forced to close early on the first day of the water outage but has since transitioned to takeout-only service. In addition, Giambanco has been purchasing bottled water to share with residents in need, underscoring the community’s resilience during the crisis. The water outage stems from issues with the Byrd Park Reservoir, which Hanover County shares with Richmond. In a morning update, Richmond officials confirmed they have been replenishing the reservoir, but restoring clean running water and normal pressure will take time. Hanover County set up distribution sites Wednesday where residents can pick up bottled water or access potable water. County officials have assured that Mechanicsville residents should start seeing water return soon, though full pressure restoration will be gradual. As the community waits for normalcy to return, residents and businesses alike are left hoping for clearer communication and quicker resolutions. "You go home, you close the restaurant, you don't know what tomorrow brings, and you wake up, try to get the day started to see if the water's there, if you're able to open," Giambanco explained. "Your employees are blowing up the phone seeing if they gotta come in to work, if we're going to open, what time. But there's no answers, we're just going hour by hour, day by day, but it's hard when we don't have the answers."
VENN
HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Parts of Central Virginia are still grappling with water outages, leaving many residents without access to clean water and local businesses scrambling to adapt. Hanover County remains under a boil water advisory, with no clear timeline from officials on when the situation will return to normal.
Hanover County informed 8News around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, that they expect the water to be fully restored by Thursday. But many residents, especially those living east of Interstate 95, including Mechanicsville and parts of the Chickahominy District, are still in limbo.
One such affected area includes Giambanco’s Italian Restaurant in Hanover, which has been without water since yesterday. While the restaurant remains open for takeout, owner Felippo Giambanco shared the challenges they’ve faced, including using a personal well to fill buckets for handwashing stations and saving water in sinks and pots to stay operational.
"We don't know when water's going to come back," Giambanco said. "If it's 3 o clock, 4 o clock, yes we can open, but if it's not we do another day like yesterday: where we open up and shut down and have no income."
The restaurant was forced to close early on the first day of the water outage but has since transitioned to takeout-only service. In addition, Giambanco has been purchasing bottled water to share with residents in need, underscoring the community’s resilience during the crisis.
The water outage stems from issues with the Byrd Park Reservoir, which Hanover County shares with Richmond. In a morning update, Richmond officials confirmed they have been replenishing the reservoir, but restoring clean running water and normal pressure will take time.
Hanover County set up distribution sites Wednesday where residents can pick up bottled water or access potable water. County officials have assured that Mechanicsville residents should start seeing water return soon, though full pressure restoration will be gradual.
As the community waits for normalcy to return, residents and businesses alike are left hoping for clearer communication and quicker resolutions.
"You go home, you close the restaurant, you don't know what tomorrow brings, and you wake up, try to get the day started to see if the water's there, if you're able to open," Giambanco explained. "Your employees are blowing up the phone seeing if they gotta come in to work, if we're going to open, what time. But there's no answers, we're just going hour by hour, day by day, but it's hard when we don't have the answers."
