Panicked residents blast Richmond mayor as water is cut off across entire Virginia city: 'Not a drop to drink!'

Residents across Richmond, Virginia have been left desperate for water after a power outage caused by snow and ice hit the city's main facility.

The city was placed under an immediate boil water advisory on January 6 afternoon  after about 230,000 people reported experiencing very low water pressure.

The Department of Public Utilities asked those affected to boil water before consuming it - despite there being none coming from the taps. 

While the city managed to restored production earlier today, Richmond locals are being advised to continue boiling their water and conserve as pressure builds back up. 

The advisory is expected to last approximately another 48 hours due to required testing. 

'I've spent the last five hours at the water plant with our teams as they make steady progress on restoring water services to our City. I'm hopeful that we'll have more to share soon, and I appreciate your continued patience,' said Mayor Danny Avula. 

However, the sudden loss of water for over a day has left many residents frustrated as they frantically buy bottled water in bulk - if they can find it. 

'Hello from Richmond, Virginia where my entire area currently has no running water happy polar vortex to all who celebrate,' one X user sarcastically said.  

'Richmond, Virginia sent out an advisory to drink water only if it is boiled. The crazy thing is I always go home and binge drink water from the sink. So if the message is late … that explains why I have been feeling weird for days and I only just saw this,' another concerned local revealed. 

While one demanded to know: 'It is 2025 and the entire city of Richmond, Virginia is without water. WTF??? Where are all those rich folks when something like this is happening?'

'Richmond hasn't had water for 24+ hours and people still aren't going for the Dasani,' another joked while sharing a picture of nearly-empty grocery store water aisle.

'Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink! We are 6 days into 2025 and there's no water coming out of the taps in Richmond, VA, a water main break flooded parts of downtown Bethesda, MD, the aquifer in Cape Coral, FL, is critically low... Is this thing on? Bueller? Bueller?,' a raging X user tweeted.

One shockingly said: 'I'm from Richmond Va where everyone finds out the water system is broken through Reddit hours before the city puts out a statement  

'If you listen closely you can hear the sound of every journalist in Richmond filing FOIA requests to see when the city first learned about the water issue and how long it took them to tell the public,' another added.  

A local also shared a picture of a notice displayed on their local grocery store and empty vending machine with the caption: 'All is well in Richmond. Just have to boil the water (I don't have water)'. 

Some residents have also shared videos of how they are storing water - with many filling up their bathtubs. 

A Virginia-based TikToker who goes by @marygracerotter_ shared clips of brimming jugs, bottles and jars stored in her fridge. 

TikToker @aalyhsia also showed her followers that her local store had run out of water bottles, and shared how she was able to find some. 

Mayor Avula had previously said that the city was working to get water supplies to vulnerable populations, such as in shelters, hospitals and senior living centers. 

When asked why his office had not informed locals of what had occurred earlier in time for them to prepare, he said: 'We really were trying to get things up and running yesterday so that we could avoid the boil-water advisory altogether. 

'I'm sorry that we weren't able to provide a little more buffer.' 

According to a city spokesperson, the power disruption which was caused by an icy storm led to issues with the plant's uninterrupted power supply. 

This lead to flooding in the filter gallery—crucial for the water treatment process.