Update: Downtown water main is fixed, city says

Tuesday morning update

The city said in a press release this morning that the water main has been fixed, and full water pressure has been restored.

“I appreciate the coordination with Henrico County and I’m especially thankful for the hard work and long hours my team has put in to complete this challenging repair while ensuring limited impact to customers,” wrote Scott Morris, Director of the Department of Public Utilities.

Original story

An initial attempt to fix a broken water main on Canal Street was not completed overnight on Sunday, but water service remains intact for Richmond and Henrico residents.

"While progress was made, there was difficulty isolating the valve which prevented completing the repair. Work will continue this evening," the city said in a release. "The engineered repair plan for the water main called for two line stop installations—which were successfully completed. However, there was difficulty in isolating the water line and another line stop will be required.

"To ensure water flow is sustained at normal levels during the high-demand morning period and throughout the rest of the workday, repair work was halted and will begin again tonight."

In a news release, Henrico DPU Director Bentley Chan said the county will continue to coordinate with the city.

“We thank Richmond’s team for working tirelessly throughout the night to repair the water main and get our system back to normal operations,” he wrote. “Repair projects of this nature can be extremely challenging, and often the complexities aren’t fully known until work begins. As work resumes tonight, we will continue to coordinate with the city to meet our customers’ needs.”

Henrico's release reiterated that drinking water is safe and should remain readily available all day, but the county will continue water distribution at Best Plaza and Harvie Elementary School on Monday.

This has been a breaking news update.