City Declares Philadelphia's Drinking Water Is Safe

The Philadelphia Water Department is monitoring a spill of a latex product that occurred along a Delaware River tributary in Bristol Township, Bucks County, late on Friday, March 24, 2023.

UPDATE: March 28, 6:30 pm

This is the final update that will be added to this post in response to this event . For any further information or updates, please visit the Philadelphia Water Department's webpage (https://water.phila.gov/).

Current guidance for residents

• The Philadelphia Water Department has declared Philadelphia's drinking water is safe to drink and use.
• PWD has determined that Philadelphia's drinking water will not be impacted by the spill in Bucks County.
• With this data showing no threat to public health, the City is ending the ongoing advisories about monitoring at the Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant.
• Philadelphia's drinking water remains safe to drink and use.
• No contaminants have been found in PWD's water system at any point since the spill.

Additional information
Out of an abundance of caution and in coordination with PA DEP, PWD will continue enhanced monitoring of the Delaware River and the Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant for spill-related material. Information related to this incident, including water quality sampling results, will be made available on PWD's website (https://water.phila.gov/).

PWD will conduct robust after-action evaluations and give direct attention to the infrastructure priorities and other long-term measures that are needed to strengthen the resilience of Philadelphia's drinking water system. These priorities are articulated in PWD's Water Plan Revitalization (https://water.phila.gov/pool/files/pwd-water-revitalization-plan.pdf)

Background on this event

• A synthetic latex product spilled from the Trinseo facility along a tributary of the Delaware River near Bristol Township, Bucks County, 13 miles north of the Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant intake, shortly before midnight on Friday, March 24, 2023.
• The product spilled is used in making products such as headlight covers. The primary substances that were tested for were butyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, and methyl methacrylate.
• PWD was notified by the Delaware Valley Early Warning System at 12:37 am on Saturday, March 25, 2023.
• In response, PWD shut intakes to the Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant as a precaution and worked diligently with partners to institute a rigorous monitoring plan to determine whether any contaminated water entered the Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant.
• The Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant is one of three main water treatment facilities that provide water to the City's residents.