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In October 1981, many Virginian cities along the James River opened their taps to find water with a “rusty, swampy, generally unpleasant odor.”1 After closing the intake gates of the Richmond water treatment plant for eight hours of testing, officials determined the water was safe to drink, despite the smell and color which was caused by unusual amounts of algae in the river.2

Despite the official assurances, residents in many cities such as Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Richmond were skeptical of the water.3 One restaurant owner complained that his customers did not want to eat salads that smelled “like a swamp.”4 Some noted that dogs were refusing to drink it, and others complained that even their laundry and hair had begun to smell.5 Richmond’s Coca-Cola Bottling Plant started to notice a difference in the taste of their product.6

In a time when bottled water was not as ubiquitous on grocery store shelves (The Richmond Times-Dispatch joked that only “bachelor executives” were buying Perrier by the case), Richmond residents tried to “disguise the taste with ice tea” or sugar but found that it didn’t make it better, “just sweeter.”7 So for those who decided not to just drink “booze straight,” the scramble to find water that could be drunk without holding one’s nose led to lines at the Byrd Park Spring from 4 a.m. until almost midnight.8

Nicknamed “The River City,” Richmond was built around the James River. The river provided fishing, navigation, and hydraulic power. Just as important to survival were areas alongside the river that John Smith remarked were “watered so conveniently with fresh brookes and springs” needed for agriculture and drinking water.9 William Byrd II advertised Richmond lots for sale in 1737 noting the benefit of several “well supplied…springs of good water.”10

Richmond Times Dispatch, October 02, 1981

But as early as 1850, many of these springs were contaminated by human and animal waste, leading the city to find other solutions.11 But even after Richmond developed a system of drawing muddy water from the James River through a pipe system in 1831, it only “began a parade of righteously indignant citizens who spent the next 40 years complaining that their supply was not abundant nor the water sweet and pure.” The complaints were warranted: filtering systems were not introduced until 1909, with chlorine added in 1914.12 And while the earliest Richmond pipes were made of wood and iron, there are also references to “small lead pipes, such as used to supply families,” which officials at the time deemed not “injurious to health.”13 The use of lead pipes, of course, still has adverse consequences today.

On the south side of the river, where the population was much less dense, many of the springs continued to be potable, such as the “Six Springs of Forest Hill Park.”14 Manchester (still a separate city at the time) had created its own municipal water system in 1846 but the “pure, cool and clear spring water” looked more attractive than the often muddy water that came from the early pipe systems.15 In 1900, “gentlemen in Manchester” proposed switching the piped water source from the river to Holly Spring on Maury Street, which they believed had “an ample supply of water for the whole city.”16 Even if it had been enough water for the population at the time, springs can dry up and are much more easily contaminated than a contained source routed through a filtration system. In the summer of 1937, the Byrd Park Spring mysteriously dried up despite it being an especially rainy summer, only to flow again a week later after officials plugged the unused waste pipe into which it had accidently diverted.17

An 1857 Filter Advertisment

Richmond Dispatch, August 15, 1857

An 1981 Filter Advertisement

Richmond Times Dispatch, October 15, 1981

But residents continued to use the many springs. Some did so for financial reasons, some because they preferred the taste. As late as 1987, one resident reported that “the city water tastes like it’s got too much chlorine in it….even coffee tastes better with [water from the Fonticello Spring].”18 The waters were remarkably different in makeup. The Byrd Park Spring, so close to the Byrd Park Reservoir that it was often rumored to simply be city water, was considered by chemists to be a “completely different water” than the water coming from people’s faucets.19 It had large amounts of carbon dioxide, no chlorine, and was considered an “acid water” according to a 1963 news article.20 And so the city continued to keep an eye on the springs; in 1947 they were tested every three months.21

Richmond Times Dispatch, October 20, 1981.

By the mid-20th century, most Richmonders enjoyed the convenience of water piped directly into their homes and only remembered the springs in times of need. In 1963, “cooks flock[ed] to fountains” to “[outwit] those awful algae.”22 In 1972, the springs were used when Hurricane Agnes damaged parts of the water infrastructure.23 And when the algae returned in 1981, so did the lines at the springs. By 1981 however, testing of the springs had become less frequent and the city had to respond by quickly testing the six remaining springs before deeming only three of them safe for use in early October. Some were deemed contaminated while others turned out have been hooked up to city water supply at some point (therefore dispensing the same water people were trying to avoid).24 The springs at Byrd Park, Wayside Spring Park, and Fonticello Spring quickly and briefly became the community gathering places they had been a century or more before. Folks tried to find humor in their situation: local radio station WRVQ released an album of parody songs, while a VCU art student sold t-shirts commemorating the “Big Stink.”25

By 1987 the Byrd Park Spring was deemed undrinkable due to “a history of bacteriological contamination” (a common occurrence, it even had to be closed in the midst of the 1981 algae crisis that made it so popular) leaving only two public springs in the city.26 Budget cuts led the city to phase out testing of the two remaining springs. By 2008 signs were placed at Wayside and Fonticello, informing passersby that the water was not deemed safe for consumption.27 The springs were largely forgotten by many Richmonders until the water crisis earlier this year. Although bottled water is much easier to purchase now than in 1981, residents in Richmond and the surrounding counties still scrambled to find potable water. An online petition renewed interest in the springs, asking city officials to renew testing so that the springs could once again be used when needed. While there was a line at Costco instead of the springs this time around, there are still local artists making good-humored souvenirs.

Special thanks to Kathi Wong for sparking interest in this topic and suggesting this blog post.

Header Image Citation

Byrd Park Spring
Ryan, David D. “100 Proof – Spring Water, That is”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 28, 1978, page B-4.

Footnotes

  1. Winston, Bonnie V. and Monte Young, “City residents queuing for spring water at park”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 02, 1981, page A- 1.
  2. Burrows, Claude. “Only rain will change water’s taste”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 01, 1981, page D-1.
  3. Brown, Nicholes and James Ezzell, “Other citites in state report water problem”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 02, 1981, page C-9.
  4. Winston, Bonnie V. and Monte Young, “City residents queuing for spring water at park”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 02, 1981, page A- 1.
  5. Ibid
    “People share ways to cope with water”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 07, 1981, page B-9.
  6. Winston, Bonnie V. and Monte Young, “City residents queuing for spring water at park”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 02, 1981, page A- 1.
  7. “People share ways to cope with water”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 07, 1981, page B-9
    Wynn, Cassandra. “Mementoes created to recall the big stink”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 20, 1981, A-13.
    Winston, Bonnie V. and Monte Young, “City residents queuing for spring water at park”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 02, 1981, page A- 1.
  8. Wynn, Cassandra. “Mementoes created to recall the big stink”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 20, 1981, A-13.
    Lazarus, Jerry. “Hitches few in ‘good water’ giveaway”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 11, 1981, page B-8.
    Winston, Bonnie V. and Monte Young, “City residents queuing for spring water at park”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 02, 1981, page A- 1.
  9. Smith, John, and James P. P. Horn. Captain John Smith writings with other narratives of Roanoke, Jamestown, and the first English settlements of America. New York: Library of America, 2007.
  10. Potterfield, T. Tyler. Nonesuch Place: A history of the Richmond Landscape. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2009.
  11. Ibid
  12. Jenkins, Jr., Jim. Time and the River: The Story of Richmond’s Drinking Water. Richmond, VA: 1950.
  13. Ibid
    “Watering the City”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 14, 1830, page 3.
  14. Potterfield, T. Tyler. Nonesuch Place: A History of the Richmond Landscape. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2009.
  15. “Clear Water”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 22, 1900, page 10.
  16. Ibid
  17. “Byrd Park Spring Dries UP in City’s Wettest Summer”, The Richmond News Leader, September 06, 1937, page 1.
    “Byrd Park Spring Will Flow Tomorrow,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 12, 1937, page 8.
  18. Holmberg, Mark. “Only two Richmond springs are left”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 22, 1987, page C-1.
  19. Coates, Al. “Chemists’ Tests Reassure City on Byrd Park Spring”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, November 03, 1963, 47-A.
  20. Ibid
  21. “Questions and Answers”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 25, 1947, page D-3.
  22. Bennett, Rose. “Cooks Flock to Fountains for Better Water”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 18, 1963, page 21.
  23. Peters, Margaret T. City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities: 175 Years of Service, 1830-2005. Richmond, VA: City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities, 2008.
  24. Campbell, Tom. “Health agency declares 3 of 6 springs safe”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 06, 1981, page A-1.
  25. Durden, Douglas. Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 19, 1981, page C-15.
    Wynn, Cassandra. “Mementoes created to recall the big stink”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 20, 1981, A-13.
  26. Holmberg, Mark. “City spring water sparkling clean”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, December 09, 1987, C-4.
    Churn, Virginia. “Byrd Park springs is closed; hopeful trend seen on algae”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 13, 1987, page A-1.
  27. Macenka, Joe. “Despite signs, spring water may be safe”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 04, 2008, page A1.
Jessi Bennett

Digital Collections Specialist

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