CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The City of Richmond has been under a boil water advisory for the last three days, leaving the city in desperate need of water.
Richmond's water treatment plant has been down since Monday after a winter storm caused a power outage at the facility.
Chesapeake's Public Utilities Director David Jurgens says the Northwest River Water Treatment Plant in Chesapeake experienced a similar situation to Richmond.
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"Chesapeake has been exactly where Richmond is now. In April of 2021, we had a thunderstorm come through and flooded our plant. It could produce no water," Jurgens said.
Thankfully, he says it had minimal impact on customers since the city used another water treatment center that met water demands.
"When the plant went down, we said, 'Hey Portsmouth, we may need more water.' Additionally, we get 2 million gallons a day from the City of Norfolk that we purchase. When the plant went down, we called Norfolk and said we needed help," Jurgens said.
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Residents say they have trust in the city’s water system.
"We’ve never had a problem with our running here before. In Chesapeake, they are pretty on top of their utilities," said Amber, a Chesapeake resident who did not want to share her last name.
Governor Glenn Youngkin says it may be a couple of days before water in Richmond is restored.
"Get the pressure fully up, which may take tonight into tomorrow morning. Then all the testing has to happen to make sure the water is safe. That could lead into Friday," Youngkin said.
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News 3 reached out to other Hampton Roads cities, and Norfolk and Newport News say they have two water plants and backup generators in place.
Norfolk released the following statement saying in part:
The City of Norfolk’s Department of Utilities has multiple pieces of backup equipment that are regularly tested. Norfolk has two separate, independent water treatment plants that serve the City. Each plant has two separate, independent sources of electrical power. Each plant has multiple backup generators. All systems are checked on a regular, routine basis.
Newport News released the following statement saying in part:
"Newport News Waterworks (NNWW) has demonstrated resilience and continuous improvement in ensuring reliable water service during extreme weather events and power outages. While past storms like Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and Hurricane Isabel in 2003 resulted in boil water notices, NNWW has since made significant investments to strengthen its infrastructure. Unlike utilities with a single water treatment facility, NNWW operates two treatment plants and can draw from multiple water sources, greatly reducing the likelihood of disruptions."
Virginia Beach released the following statement saying in part:
"All water pump stations and water storage tanks are equipped with permanent generators to ensure uninterrupted service. These generators are tested weekly to ensure they are functional and ready to operate in the event of a power outage. We receive our treated drinking water from the City of Norfolk. Similar to our system, Norfolk has emergency generators to operate their treatment plants in the event of a power outage. Virginia Beach also has multiple water storage tanks distributed across the city to buffer our water distribution system in the event of short Norfolk outages."
