No algorithms. No content filters. No A.I. — Honest and insightful analysis from Richmond, VA.
“Water” will almost certainly be the largest word when a Richmond word cloud graphic is compiled at the end of 2025, and it certainly was the major discussion theme last week. Today we will touch on four aspects of the water issue and another two tomorrow.
Water was the key topic in the third Notice of Violation issued to the city since January by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) for the city’s May 27th Boil Water Advisory (BWA);
The city’s communication efforts are slowly improving but the chain of command still seems tangled (or broken);
The VDH report also included a nugget that may indicate that Henrico County may not have reduced the flow of water from the city system when requested early on May 27th, which could impact discussions about a regional water solution;
Mayor Avula sent an invitation to our regional neighbors to discuss water across the region with city officials next month, with details and dates to be filled in soon.
We all know the city’s water rates are maddeningly high (and going up), but so are the city’s FOIA rates. City Hall is charging reporters a lot for Freedom of Information Act requests for records after bragging about being more transparent and establishing a free “reading room” for documents that comes with more redactions than records; and,
Water was most certainly on people’s minds last week when they went to the polls in the Democratic primary for Lt. Governor, which cost former Mayor Stoney his path to the Executive Mansion.
The state’s June 16th Notice of Violation (NOV) was clear in its conclusions and indicates patience with solving the problems at the city water plant is growing thin. The city’s press release early on the morning of May 27th blamed “high turbidity” in the James River as the cause of the issue and that a Boil Water Advisory (BWA) was not necessary. But it was another self-inflicted wound that caused the problem, not turbidity. Within days of the incident it was discovered key filters were clogged because the city hadn’t cleaned them since March. CBS6 also reported on an unfulfilled work order from May 12 that requested thorough washing of the plates, but that work was postponed for reasons the city never made clear.
The VDH memo stated: “Effective response to high turbidity is routinely handled with appropriate, proactive monitoring and properly adjusting chemical feeds. Timely maintenance is a controllable condition.”
It continued, …“the May 2025 BWA incident was completely avoidable, just like the water crisis in January 2025, and the fluoride overfeed incident in April 2025. If the City had more proactive maintenance, better oversight and active operation, then the event would not have happened.”
The May incident could have been avoided if DPU had simply cleaned the impacted filters in a timely manner. Three for three is a great night at the ballpark, but it stinks when it is the city’s third NOV in five months. It causes real concern among city and regional residents who wonder if the water will come on when you turn on the tap and worry every time their pressure seems low. The VDH report also clearly called out the “high turbidity” excuse: “Two other water treatment plants that rely on the James River
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to RVA 5x5 to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.