Here's what happens next in Richmond's water crisis

Monday morning begins with the city's water service back to normal, but the fallout from last week's outages will continue for some time.

Here are some of the stories we'll be following this week:

Bypass pumps disconnected, plant repairs continue

Richmond's main water plant has eight pumps, which move clean water across the city, and fill the Byrd Park reservoir.

As of Sunday evening, five of those eight were functioning, which is enough to supply customers with their daily water needs.

An additional two "bypass pumps" were brought in to help restore service last week. They remain on site but are not currently in operation, according to a city spokesperson.

With the crisis over, attention now turns to the state of the plant itself, and whether repairs can be made to the other three pumps.

Richmond's city offices were closed last week, meaning public records requests were not filled. The next few weeks will bring information about the cost to rent the bypass pumps, as well as the recovery operation overall.

Payment grace period issued

The city added five business days to the due date on all bills the city issued that were due in January.

Mayor Danny Avula said discussions were underway on how to help those who were impacted by the crisis, including businesses that had to shut down and workers who went unpaid during those days.

Richmond's City Council will meet on Monday night. There is not currently a water-related item on the council's agenda, but it is likely to be a topic of conversation as the group begins to work with Avula.

The investigation begins

Avula said he's hopeful to select this week the outside group that will conduct a full investigation into what happened at the water plant.

Reporting by The Richmonder and other outlets has revealed that when power went out at the plant, workers on site were unable to switch to a secondary power source. CBS 6 reported that workers could not manually close the valves that would have prevented electronic equipment from flooding.

An EPA report from 2022 indicated a number of other issues with the city's water infrastructure overall, and full modernization would likely take many years and many millions of dollars.

In addition to the investigation, there will be questions about what other infrastructure in the Richmond area is susceptible in the coming years.

At the state level, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has also promised an investigation, though it is not yet clear whether the two will be merged.