Henrico crews working to close 14 small water valves, which could lead to restored service

Henrico Public Utilities officials Wednesday morning were continuing to work on the county’s water system to restore water service to Eastern and Northern Henrico, after overnight efforts managed to restore some service in the Mechanicsville Turnpike area.

Shortly before midnight Wednesday, officials believed that they could have service restored to most of the affected customers by early morning. But after Public Utilities crews closed the last remaining large water valves that they believed needed to be adjusted in order to ensure the flow of water in the proper direction, they realized that a number of smaller valves also needed to be closed.

As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, crews were anticipating adjusting 14 smaller valves in order to complete the process. Closing a large valve, Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas told the Citizen Tuesday night, is a time-consuming process that can take as long as half an hour, but closing smaller valves generally takes less time. Failure to close the proper valves would result in water flowing back into the city.

“We’re pushing water from the west to the east, and as we do that, we have to close valves to help with the pressure,” Henrico Public Relations Director Ben Sheppard told the Citizen Wednesday. “We have to fill up tanks to help with the pressure, and it just takes time.”

The 14 smaller valves were located along the Henrico-Richmond line from Mechanicsville Turnpike to Laburnum Avenue, Sheppard said.

In the meantime, Henrico officials were continuing to distribute bottled and potable water to county residents at several locations.

Both forms are available 24 hours a day at the Eastern Henrico Recreation Center (1440 North Laburnum Avenue), though residents need to bring their own storage containers for potable water.

Bottled water also is available 24 hours a day at the Eastern Henrico Government Center (3820 Nine Mile Road) and Wednesday until 9 p.m. at the Sandston and Varina libraries. Officials Tuesday had indicated that it also would be available at the North Park and Fairfield libraries, but that is no longer the case. The area near North Park Library has water, and officials decided that providing water at Fairfield Library – which is located across the street from the Eastern Henrico Recreation Center – would be duplicative.

“We’re doing everything we can,” Sheppard said of the county’s ongoing efforts. “We’re utilizing every resource available and we want to get water back to people as soon as possible.”

Once service is fully restored to the Richmond water treatment facility, Henrico crews will restore each of the valves they've adjusted back to their original direction, one at a time, Sheppard said. Service will not be affected by that process, he said.

Just after 10:30 Henrico officials also announced that local YMCAs are opening their doors to anyone who wants to shower.

In Henrico, participating YMCAs include the Tuckahoe (9211 Patterson Avenue), John Rolfe (2244 John Rolfe Parkway) and Shady Grove (11255 Nuckols Road) Family YMCAs. Two other YMCAs in the county – the Chickahominy Family YMCA in Sandston and Thornton YMCA Aquatic Center in Eastern Henrico – are closed until the water limitations are resolved.

Guests need to bring a photo ID, towel and any necessary toiletries.

The same opportunity also exists for anyone in need at the the Weinstein JCC at 5403 Monument Avenue in Henrico, which announced it would open its doors to provide use of its shower facilities. Guests similarly should bring photo IDs, towels and toiletries with them.

In a Facebook Live video message Wednesday morning, Varina District Supervisor Tyrone Nelson described receiving a number of messages from residents who were frustrated.

“I get it,” Nelson said. “I too have not had water for the past 36-plus hours now.

"I'm hoping that today is going to be the day. I don't have any definitive time for you, so I'm not going to give you one. I just asked our folk this morning when I talked to them 'Is this a today thing, or is this days?' and they all believe that they have a fix and it's going to be today."