Following a series of high-profile water system failures earlier this year, Richmond officials say they are making steady progress on state-mandated improvements to the city’s water treatment operations and emergency response plans.

The Richmond Department of Public Utilities (DPU) has completed about 82% of 230 actions recommended by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) so far, according to DPU Director Scott Morris during a committee meeting Monday.

“We’re readily progressing on that,” Morris said. 

The recommendations are part of a broader set of requirements outlined in a consent order from the Virginia Department of Health, issued after the January outage that left the region without running water for days. They stem from multiple investigations, including a 2022 inspection by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Morris said the city is also making progress on other parts of the consent order, with 52 updated standard operating procedures completed and submitted. Additional requirements—including quarterly progress reports on sanitary surveys, a schedule for emergency backup system tests, and other documentation—are on track to meet the order’s 120-day deadline.

Morris said the Department of Public Utilities has also made internal improvements, including adjusting the plant’s electrical rate to preserve cost savings without relying on the “winter mode” operations that contributed to the January outage.

Convenience fee charges for all customers have also been removed as of June 30, the charge threshold has been raised from $500 to $1,000, and improvements are being made to billing and plant meters, he said.

The January outage also prompted a review of Richmond’s incident response, outlined in a second presentation by Hagerty Consulting. The assessment included 74 targeted recommendations focused on planning, public communication and economic recovery.

Some of Hagerty’s recommendations have already been implemented, including a new emergency notification system and the development of a citywide recovery framework.

Council members expressed appreciation for the progress made, especially amid ongoing discussions with regional water partners and lingering frustrations over recent water system failures.

“I’m really glad to have much more confidence in the strength of our system,” 1st District Council member Andrew Breton said. “I think our partners across the region are also really glad to see that as well.”

In other business, council members delayed discussion of several agenda items. These included an ordinance that would require more top city officials to live in Richmond and Civilian Review Board, a panel that would oversee complaints and investigations related to the Richmond Police Department.