A boil-water advisory issued Friday for the city of Hopewell and parts of Prince George County was lifted Sunday afternoon, but residents were asked to continue to conserve water by limiting usage, as the water pumping system remained on auxiliary power.
The boil-water advisory was issued after a power outage Friday at the city’s main pump station caused a drop in water pressure, forcing public schools to dismiss early.
Virginia American Water, Hopewell’s water supplier, said Sunday that results from samples taken from the water system meet all state and federal water quality standards.
The company said electricity to the water pumping system at its Hopewell treatment facility has been restored through auxiliary power, and water pressure is normal.
The company said it does not yet have an estimate of when the facility will return to normal operations.
“We are grateful to our customers for their ongoing cooperation as we ask them to continue to conserve water and curtail non-essential water use for the next 24 to 48 hours as the system rebuilds to regular operational strength,” said Barry Suits, president of Virginia American Water, in a statement released by the company at about 6:40 pm Sunday.
While residents no longer need to boil their water, the company said they should flush household pipes, ice makers and water fountains before using water for drinking or cooking.
Residents should run a cold water faucet in their homes for 3-5 minutes, and flush automatic ice makers by making and discarding three batches of ice.
Drinking water fountains should be run for one minute at the highest flow rate possible, the company said.
Residents also should run water softeners through a regeneration cycle by following the manufacturer’s guidelines in owner’s manuals.

The results from samples taken from the water system meet all state and federal water quality standards.
“We are grateful to our customers for their ongoing cooperation as we ask them to continue to conserve water and curtail non-essential water use for the next 24 to 48 hours as the system rebuilds to regular operational strength,” said Barry Suits, president, Virginia American Water.
Virginia American Water does not yet have an estimate when the facility will return to normal operations.
The boil water advisory was issued on Friday, March 30 following a drop in water pressure due to an interruption in the operation of Virginia American Water’s Hopewell treatment facility.
Customers no longer need to boil their water, but they should flush household pipes, ice makers, water fountains, etc.
prior to using for drinking or cooking using these guidelines: • Run a cold water faucet in your home for 3-5 minutes.
• Run drinking water fountains for one minute at the highest flow rate possible.
With the return of regular water service, the drinking water distribution efforts at Hopewell High School and Carter G. Woodson Middle School will end at 6 p.m. today.
Virginia American Water appreciates its customers’ cooperation and is grateful to the City of Hopewell, the State of Virginia and the Virginia Department of Health for their partnership and assistance during this issue.
If customers have any questions, they may call 1-800-452-6863.

Officials said the results from samples taken from the water system meet all state and federal water quality standards.
“We are grateful to our customers for their ongoing cooperation as we ask them to continue to conserve water and curtail non-essential water use for the next 24 to 48 hours as the system rebuilds to regular operational strength,” said Barry Suits, president, Virginia American Water.
The boil water advisory also forced local restaurants to close their doors.
The owner of the restaurant tells me they had water when they got in and right when they opened they had none.
"Electricity to the water pumping system at the company’s Hopewell treatment facility has been restored through auxiliary power, and water pressure is normal.
Virginia American Water does not yet have an estimate when the facility will return to normal operations," officials said in an email.
Virginia American Water is advising residents to flush household pipes, ice makers, water fountains, etc.
Here are some guidelines: Run a cold water faucet in your home for three to five minutes.
Run drinking water fountains for one minute at the highest flow rate possible.
Those with questions can call 1-800-452-6863 or go to Virginia American Water’s website.

HOPEWELL, Va. — Officials said they are making progress in restoring water service to some 9,000 customers in Hopewell after a pipe burst at a Virginia American Water plant Friday morning.
"Most residents are waking up to some water at their tap… [but] we continue to urge conservation in the home of water."
“We’re not 100-percent," Suits said.
Please boil your water for a minimum of one minute, and let it cool before consuming," Hopewell officials said Friday.
The pipe flooded the building and crews lost the power to run pumps and produce treated water to the thousands of customers, according to Senior Project Engineer Leslie Steves.
Virginia American Water will provide information as to when the advisory is lifted.
Until further notice, impacted customers should bring tap water to a rolling boil for one minute and allow cooling before using for consumption, drinking, making baby formula, ice cubes, washing vegetables and fruit, and for brushing teeth.
Bring tap water to a rolling boil for at least one minute; allow to cool before using.
Water plant official: ‘This was a very unfortunate event’ During a 4 p.m. Friday press conference, Virginia American Water Director of Operations Lauren Sufleta said there was no immediately timeline available when the plant will be fully functioning.
We are bringing them from all over and we are doing our best to get you back into the water service that you’re so used to receiving from us."

Students on the main campus of the Boyle County Schools were only drinking bottled water Wednesday, after a water main break on the campus.
“We were running some fiberoptic cables, they tunnel under the ground.
No students were impacted Tuesday afternoon, he said, because all kids were gone by the time the water ran out.
The Danville Water Department responded quickly to the problem, Holderman said.
Holderman said the district has protocols established, which they were able to enact, and followed the protocols from the Boyle County Health Department.
Students can wash their hands with soap and water, he said, but the district set out hand sanitizer, too, to use after washing their hands.
“We don’t know if it’ll be lifted tonight, so we’re going to prepare for that,” Holderman said on Wednesday afternoon.
He said Masters had delivery trucks go to the Lowe’s in Nicholasville on Wednesday to bring the rest of the water in.
“They went above and beyond the call of duty there,” he said.
To bring them back online, they have to flush the lines and change the filters on those.

The City of Weyburn’s water works are back up and running after a water main break caused a water outage for most of Wednesday.
Weyburn’s Claude Morin says the water was just turned on Wednesday afternoon.
“As of about 2:00 PM (Wednesday) afternoon, we have restored water service to the majority of the city,” Morin says.
“We’re still working to repair the initial water break that occurred, but that area is isolated from the rest of the city.” The city is still under a boil water advisory until further notice.
The cause of the burst is still relatively unknown, but at this point it is believed to be caused by ground shifting.
Further updates will be posted on the city of Weyburn’s social media pages and website.
(Files from Mitchell Blair and Ryan McNally)

Residents of the City of Weyburn and rural users of city water woke up with any water service Wednesday morning, following a major watermain break around 5 a.m. in the downtown area.
The watermain break was soon under control and was being repaired, but water reservoir levels were seriously depleted, requiring a shutdown of water service to the city and to the utility board users for a temporary time.
When the water supply does resume, a boil-water advisory is in place until further notice.
All city schools and the Southeast College are closed for the day.
In a notice sent out through the city’s alert system, the city said, “We are asking the public’s cooperation in restricting water usage to only essential use throughout the day.”

West Virginia American Water has issued a boil-water advisory for about 25 customers on one side of Garrison Avenue (opposite from Pacific Street) from Crestlyn Drive (included) to Edgewood Drive (not included) and Earie Street in Charleston.
The advisory follows a water main break.
Customers in these areas should boil their water for at least one full minute prior to use until further notice.
West Virginia American Water has lifted a boil-water advisory for about 10 customers on Whaley Court in Huntington.

West Virginia American Water has issued a boil-water advisory for approximately 25 on one side of Garrison Avenue (opposite from Pacific Street) from Crestlyn Drive (included) to Edgewood Drive (not included) and Earie Street in Charleston.
The advisory follows a water main break.
Customers in these areas should boil their water for at least one full minute prior to use until further notice.
West Virginia American Water has lifted a boil-water advisory for approximately 10 customers on Whaley Court in Huntington.

The City of Ville Platte is now under a boil water advisory after the water in the city was shut off because of a main water line break.
According to officials, the water was turned off to make repairs to a 12-inch water line at around 5:00 pm Monday evening.
The water was restored just before 10:00 pm Monday night and a boil advisory has been issued until further notice.
Officials say the water line has been fixed.