Boiling Water, Richmond Ready, and THC Mocktails
Cheers RVA!
Today will be mostly cloudy with occasional afternoon showers, with a high of 75 and a low of 64.
the juice:
The water plant is now functioning as normal and a first sample test has been completed.
The second test was collected on Wednesday around noon and if the tests are negative the boil water advisory will likely be lifted around 1:00 pm today.
While all of the city was affected with lower water pressure, only some neighborhoods were put under the advisory.
The city has said roughly 140k bottles of water were delivered to priority populations including senior care facilities, shelters and Richmond public schools.
While exact details are still unknown, officials have said extra sediment (known as “high turbidity”) in the source water caused production to slow.
Michael Layne at WTVR has reported that a work order to clean plate settlers, a type of filter to remove sediment, was not immediately fulfilled on May 12.
While the plant focuses on resuming operations an after-action analysis is expected in the coming weeks.
the pulp:
A pedestrian was killed while crossing Hull Street on Monday evening, according to Gwyndolyn Miles at the RTD. The driver did not remain at the scene and the incident remains under investigation.
Of the 5710 Richmond residents signed up for the Richmond Ready alert system, about 3800 received the first boil water advisory alert and 5k received the second one, via WRIC. The default setting for those who sign up is to not receive notifications, and users need to manually adjust the settings to turn notifications on. When asked why the city did not use a the Wireless Alert System (WAS), the office of the Mayor stated:
WEA is essential for instant, mass alerts to the public without signup, especially for imminent life-threatening emergencies and the city does have WEA capabilities. But platforms like Everbridge [Richmond Ready Alerts] give the city more flexibility, control and communication depth, making it a critical tool for more nuanced, sustained, or localized public safety messaging.
the shout-out:
I’d like to extend a thank you to those who have made a donation to this newsletter. Your support is greatly appreciated.
the dive:
Charlotte Rene Woods from the Mercury dives into the new market of THC mocktails as Virginia awaits a retail marijuana market.
The alcohol-free drinks contain 2 mg of THC, paired with 5 mg each of CBD and CBG, both non-psychoactive compounds.
Woods writes:
With 2 milligrams of THC — the chemical component in cannabis and hemp that can produce a euphoric feeling — paired with 5 milligrams of the non-psychoactive compounds CBD and CBG, the products are within Virginia’s legal requirements. Virginia law requires hemp-derived products to have 25 times as much CBD for every one part of THC. The company also posts the products’ lab results online.
Read the full article here.
the vibe:
This billboard on Broad was just too perfect.
Have an optimistic day RVA!
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