A “catastrophic” water pump failure was indeed the cause of the recent water crisis in eastern Orange County, the Virginia Health Department said in a report issued Wednesday, Sept. 25. 

The agency also accused Rapidan Service Authority (RSA), the manager of the affected water treatment plant, of having multiple violations that led to the crisis.

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The crisis began on Aug. 20, when one of the submersible water pumps, used to direct water into the plant’s treatment system, failed and Orange County residents noticed a strong odor in their water. A “do-not-use” water advisory — recommending that local residents avoid using the water for anything but toilet flushing — was issued the next day and remained in effect until it was changed to a “do-not-drink” advisory on Aug. 24. That same day, two more pumps failed. The “do-not-drink” advisory was lifted on Aug. 27, after all tests showed “there was no identified regulatory violation” to justify keeping it in place, the report said.

Now, the Health Department (VHD) has released a report detailing their investigation and issued a notice of alleged violations to the Rapidan Service Authority (RSA), the plant’s service provider. RSA is accused of failing to recognize that the electrical contractor’s installation of “undersized” temporary wiring led to the pump failures. RSA also allegedly failed to further investigate the extent of the first pump’s failure after starting to receive odor complaints.

RSA General Manager Tim Clemons could not be immediately reached for a comment.

After county residents noted the strong, petroleum-like odor in their water, a multi-agency investigation explored various possibilities, “including upstream and upslope pollution reports, nearby road paving activities, pesticide applications at a nearby golf course, construction at the [the water treatment plant’s]’s intake, algal blooms, bacteria, stormwater, bad actor scenarios, and equipment failures,” according to the report. Investigators crowdsourced information and consulted national and state experts to further their inquiry.

After weeks of investigation, experts concluded that the pump failure likely caused the mineral oil it contained to burn, creating the chemicals and odor experienced by RSA customers.

In its notice of alleged violations, the Health Department stated that RSA’s “monitoring systems and early warning mechanisms were either insufficient or not utilized effectively such that RSA did not identify the odor at the Wilderness WTP waterworks until RSA began receiving complaints from customers.”

RSA has 60 days to submit a detailed plan addressing concerns outlined by the VDH, including factors that led to the odor event, improvements in water quality monitoring, and updated procedures for infrastructure improvements at the plant. Additionally, RSA is required to enhance communication with customers and improve emergency response measures. The notice also mentioned the need to address disinfection by-products in the water, an issue RSA had even prior to the odor crisis.

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