Underserved Richmonders express frustration with second water crisis

Andrew Kerley, Executive Editor Maeve Bauer, Spectrum Editor Mack Smith said he has never seen... The post Underserved Richmonders express frustration with second water crisis appeared first on The Commonwealth Times.

Executive Editor | Fri, May 30, 2025

Andrew Kerley, Executive Editor

Maeve Bauer, Spectrum Editor

Mack Smith said he has never seen Richmond experience anything like the recent water problems throughout his 50-plus years of living in the city.

“It was bad in January, and it’s bad now,” Smith said.

Smith, 74, has arthritis and lives in a low-income housing complex for disabled seniors in the Fan District. His building provided bottled water during the first water crisis in January, but this time residents said they were left with no more than a couple bottles — with no help from the city. Smith took his medicine with milk Thursday morning.

Richmond was under a boil water advisory from the morning of Tuesday, May 27 to the early afternoon on Thursday, May 29 after the Water Treatment Plant’s filters clogged, according to the city. The advisory marked the third major incident affecting Richmond’s drinking water in 2025, leaving many vulnerable residents frustrated with yet another crisis.

Multiple city agencies began distributing water to prioritized communities like senior homes, schools and public housing neighborhoods on Tuesday, according to press releases. Residents like Smith said they were never reached.

“They said on the news they were gonna make sure places like this have water, but they ain’t got no water in here,” Smith said.

Many of the residents at Smith’s building said they are unable to boil water for themselves. Some had relatives deliver bottled water for them, but others could not afford it on their own.

“If you ain’t got no water, and you ain’t got no means to get water, that’s very frustrating,” Smith said.

Wallace Hubbard, 62, lives in public housing at Mosby Court. While the neighborhood was just outside the zone affected by the boil water advisory, Hubbard and a few others sat outside for hours on Thursday waiting for a community organization to deliver donated bottled water.

Wallace Hubbard, 62, sits outside the Mosby Justice Garden on May 29. Hubbard said he was frustrated with the city’s water issues and feels his neighborhood is often ignored during crises. Photo by Andrew Kerley.

Hubbard, a life-long Richmonder, recalled struggles during the first water crisis. He has noticed a pattern of officials only paying attention to his neighborhood during election season. He blames former Mayor Levar Stoney for not using his time in office to fix the water system.

“He was gonna do this and that, he didn’t do anything,” Hubbard said.

Hubbard’s neighborhood did not get any free bottled water from the city during the first crisis, he said. Residents only received a few bottles from Mosby Court’s rent office.

Residents were left to get their own water, sometimes at scalped prices from nearby corner stores, they said. Many do not have money for water or transportation to get to local grocery stores.

Mosby Court’s closest supermarket is over a mile away — it is considered a food desert, according to a 2021 study. Food deserts are areas, often urban, with limited access to healthy and affordable food. Black communities are disproportionately affected across the United States.

Taylor Scott founded RVA Community Fridges, an organization that stocks locations around the city with free food, as well as free water during the recent crisis. She said usually the Richmond community helps the underserved, not the city.

“Our community is always willing to help each other out,” Scott said.

After January’s water crisis, the organization developed ways to make sure everyone can stay informed on the issue, such as putting up fliers, Scott said.

People who do not have social media to see updates from the city are most affected, as well as those without access to a kitchen to boil their water, according to Scott. Some do not have time to boil water on top of working and parenting.

‘Delayed maintenance’ at water plant led to crisis

A stalled work order to clean a “sludge” mineral byproduct off filters at the Water Treatment Plant led to the clogs and boil water advisory, Mayor Danny Avula and Department of Public Utilities Director Scott Morris admitted at a press conference on Thursday. WTVR first reported on the incident.

Morris said DPU has changed their cleaning protocols from an on-demand to a weekly basis. He also said he would hold individuals accountable, but refused to get into specifics.

“There’s going to be hiccups along the way,” Morris said. “I will never guarantee that nothing will ever happen again, that is not something you can guarantee. Infrastructure fails.”

Hubbard suggested Avula put someone in at DPU who can get things straight.

“It hurts when the water system is messed up,” Hubbard said.

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