Widespread water issues reported throughout Eastern, Northern Henrico

One day after the city of Richmond’s water supply was affected by a power outage caused by Sunday’s winter storm, there are now widespread reports of low water pressure or no water at all in large sections of Eastern and Northern Henrico.

A number of residents of Varina, Highland Springs, Sandston and the Laburnum Avenue corridor reported on social media and to the Citizen Tuesday morning that their homes were without water, while others from those areas and Rocketts Landing reported low water pressure. Richmond International Airport in Sandston also was without water as of 9:15 a.m.

Varina District Supervisor Tyrone Nelson posted on social media Tuesday morning that his home in Varina also was without water and that he was working to provide more information to his constituents. 

The city of Richmond’s water treatment facility lost power Monday morning, and then the room that contains its 12 pumps flooded, bumping them all offline and prompting the city to issue a boil water advisory for all of its water customers. That advisory did not apply to any Henrico resident whose water bill comes from the county, however.

When Henrico officials learned of the city’s issues, they disconnected the customers in Eastern Henrico who get their water from the city and connected them to the county’s water instead.

But the quick switchover, and an unrelated water main break overnight in Highland Springs that took pressure from county water lines, resulted in low pressure or no water for some county residents, according to a county news release Tuesday morning.

"The Henrico County Department of Public Utilities is working swiftly to address the limited water pressure experienced by Henrico’s water customers this morning," Henrico Public Utilities officials said in a statement.

Customers in the Sandston and White Oak areas are the most impacted, officials said, but the entire Varina and Fairfield Districts (the county's two easternmost districts) also are "highly impacted," they said.

Water pressure should be restored to Henrico customers by Tuesday afternoon, according to officials.

The county's Department of Public Utilities also "is providing every available resource to help restore normal operations in the City of Richmond," Henrico officials said.