Why Richmond's back-to-back water issues keep happening

Driving the news: Officials used a press briefing on Thursday to break down why these messes keep happening. The mishaps essentially come down to:

• Maintenance delays.
• Staff decisions.
• Limited real-time oversight.
• Aging infrastructure (the water plant is more than 100 years old).
• Inadequate water storage capacity.

Between the lines: The issues contributing to these water problems aren't exactly new.

• A 2017 performance review of the city uncovered internal complaints about accountability and miscommunication and disorganization across all levels of the city's Department of Public Utilities, "which impacts customer service."

What they're saying: DPU director Scott Morris said that back-to-back problems aren't actually out of the ordinary at water plants.

What we're watching: While DPU is focused on preventative improvements to minimize incidents, "I will never guarantee that nothing will ever happen again," Morris said. "That's wishful thinking."

Here's a little more on the five issues that officials say contributed to the crises.

Maintenance delays

A work order to clean plate settlers — which remove big sediment chunks from the water so filters don't get clogged — wasn't fulfilled, and then the filters got clogged, Morris said.

• The plates hadn't been cleaned since March, an amount of time Morris called "inappropriate."
• The city will now clean those plate settlers every four weeks.

Staff decisions

Morris repeatedly declined to comment on who at the plant made the call to defer the maintenance, or what — if any — disciplinary measures have been taken.

• But Morris said DPU has restructured to ensure project managers stay on target and don't delay improvement projects.
• Morris also said DPU's effort now to switch from corrective to preventative maintenance will avoid having staffers make judgment calls on whether to prioritize or put off maintenance issues.

Limited real-time oversight

DPU has never had executive leadership stationed at the water treatment plant, Morris said.

• He has now put Tony Singh, a new senior deputy of operations, onsite daily doing routine inspections to catch problems before they happen.

• Morris added that DPU has worked to make sure "we have the people we need when we need it" and to have insights on the plant on a "day-to-day basis."
• There are now monthly reports to Morris about the status of repairs to equipment like pumps, pipes, valves and more.

Inadequate storage capacity

The Byrd Park reservoir, which houses the local water supply, is operating at half capacity while undergoing construction, which officials estimate will be done in 2027.

• Morris said that if the reservoir had been at full capacity, "the boil water advisory we did most recently would not have occurred."
• He also noted that the latest advisory showed one zone — the Ginter Park tank — going down quicker than others, which signals a need to look at whether that area has enough water storage capacity.

Aging infrastructure

The age of the plant, which is more than a century old, has repeatedly come up the past few months.

• Mayor Danny Avula said that old infrastructure and "pretty rapid change" in terms of people, systems and processes are "going to come with some bumps in the road."