Many Philadelphia residents scrambled to buy bottled water from quickly emptying grocery store shelves, with leaders initially recommending that residents use bottled water as a precaution starting Sunday at 2 pm.
On Monday, officials reiterated advice that residents should have three days of water on hand as a precaution in case contaminants were discovered in the city’s supply. The mayor recommended filling bottles and pitchers with tap water.
An estimated 8100 gallons of a water-soluble acrylic polymer solution was released into the Delaware River outside Philadelphia late Friday night, just a few miles upstream of a key intake for the city’s Baxter water treatment plant. The spill was the result of an “equipment failure” at a Trinseo PLC plant that makes acrylic resins, the owner said.
The city however maintains that no contaminants have been found in any of Philadelphia’s water after Friday’s spill.
