Scott Morris, director of the Department of Public Utilities (DPU), told the Organizational Development Standing Committee that maintenance work on a fluoride pump at the city’s water treatment plant resulted in an improper valve lineup that caused an elevated fluoride dosage over an approximately five‑hour period.

Morris said the plant operator did not immediately escalate the event to DPU administration; DPU received notification about the event on Sunday evening around 8:45 p.m. and met with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) the following morning to review sampling and next steps. Morris said initial plant samples reported fluoride at levels in excess of 2 milligrams per liter and that DPU and VDH have discussed appropriate recalls and responses.

Why it matters: water system operations and public communication. The department said it is drafting and training on standard operating procedures (SOPs) that define escalation points, internal and external communications, and templates for public notices. Morris told the committee that roughly 58 SOPs are in development for plant operations and that the first batch, including a communications SOP, was being reviewed for distribution to plant staff and for training.

Key points and actions
- Incident: a valve‑lineup error during maintenance on fluoride pump number 2 produced an extra fluoride dosage over ~5 hours. The pump had been offline following a January flooding event; the maintenance was intended to return fluoride service to normal.
- Notification timeline: an operator sample on Thursday detected elevated fluoride; the event was not escalated through the plant chain of command and DPU administration received text notification around 8:45 p.m. on Sunday; Morris then engaged VDH and regional partners the next day and met on site.
- Samples and oversight: Morris summarized prior reports (HNTB report, EPA 2022 report) and a recent VDH survey that identified items needing follow‑up; DPU said many recommendations have been addressed while several require additional work with VDH.
- SOPs and training: Morris said about 58 SOPs are being drafted; the communications SOP was under review with plans to finalize this week and begin staff training immediately thereafter. The communications SOP will define escalation points from on‑site supervisor up to DPU leadership and will include templates and external notification steps for partners and council.
- Additional steps: DPU is conducting follow‑up distribution system sampling and plans additional public notifications once levels return to normal.

Council response and requests
Council members pressed for timelines and copies of the finalized communications SOP. Council Member Trammell asked that the SOP include council among escalation points; Morris confirmed city council will be included. Several council members praised DPU for providing ongoing updates and text alerts and asked that the finalized SOP be shared with council as soon as possible.

Morris described an intent to foster a culture of accountability and transparency within DPU and said the department will hold staff accountable for deliberate misconduct while encouraging reporting and escalation for operational problems so they can be addressed promptly.

Ending
Morris closed by saying the communications SOP would be finalized and sent to council, that additional distribution sampling had been conducted, and that DPU will continue to provide timely updates to the mayor, council and public as the department implements the SOPs and completes required follow‑up with VDH.