This weekend, Philadelphia became the latest US city to navigate uncertainty about its drinking water following a chemical spill in the Delaware River from a nearby latex manufacturer. Currently, Philadelphia’s tap water will remain safe to drink through 11:59 pm local time on Monday, according to city officials, who’ve been conducting tests on the water supply. That’s a change from the message residents received midday on Sunday when a city text alert recommended that they use bottled water, spurring a rush to stores. Officials now say their goal is to provide more information on Monday, with the hope that water access won’t be affected later this week.
UPDATE: Based on updated hydraulic modeling and the latest sampling, we are confident tap water from the Baxter plant will remain safe to drink through 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 27.
We’re continuing to respond to this incident. Follow for more updates: https://t.co/g0jrCcy17q— Philadelphia Water (@PhillyH2O) March 26, 2023
The city has been continually testing the water coming into the Baxter Treatment Plant, Philadelphia’s primary water treatment facility that draws from the Delaware River. Since the spill, the reservoir has been opened twice to take in water from the river, and no contaminants had been detected as of Sunday. (Testing is ongoing on Monday.)
“The situation is one where the potential for contamination is diminishing over time,” Mike Carroll, Philadelphia’s deputy managing director for transportation, infrastructure, and sustainability, told reporters on Sunday, pointing both to a coordinated clean-up effort and natural factors addressing the spill. This incident, however, has also renewed attention to gaps in the country’s water infrastructure as well as the government’s ability to respond to chemical spills.
What happened with the Philadelphia chemical spill
The spill of 8,100 to 12,000 gallons of chemicals into the Delaware River occurred on Friday evening…
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