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Is Bucks County at risk after Delaware River chemical spill ? What we know about drinking water

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Bucks County Courier Times
·4 min read

Aqua Pennsylvania is saying it's Lower Bucks County customers do not need to avoid tap water following Friday's chemical spill into a creek near the Delaware River in Bristol.

"Our operations team immediately shut down the intake to our Bristol water system, as soon as we learned of the chemical spill preventing customer exposure to hazardous materials,," the company said in a text message Sunday night.

Officials said they are not seeing any of the chemicals from the spill in its drinking water supply. Aqua officials are continuing to monitor the situation with state and federal agencies and it would reopen its intake only when its confident that the source water is safe for customers, the text message said.

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Meanwhile on Sunday Philadelphia issued drinking water advisory suggesting its residents may want to switch to bottled water for cooking and drinking. The announcement resulted in a run on bottled water in supermarkets in and around the city, including Bucks County.

Waterfront Park, along the Delaware River, in Bristol Borough, on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020.
Waterfront Park, along the Delaware River, in Bristol Borough, on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020.

Later Sunday, the Philadelphia Water Department said it was "confident tap water from the Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant will remain safe to drink and use at least through 11:59 p.m. Monday," based on the time it will take river water that entered the Baxter intakes early Sunday morning to move through treatment and water mains before reaching customers.

Officials said there was no need to buy water as there is no risk to tap water at this time. Further testing will be done.

The Brown's Shoprite in Bensalem was nearly out of bottled water Sunday afternoon. Supermarket shelves in Lower Bucks were empty Sunday afternoon after Philadelphia officials issued a drinking water advisory after chemicals that spilled in Bristol entered a Delaware River tributary. Aqua Pennsylvania, which supplies water in Lower Bucks said the spill has not impacted system.
The Brown's Shoprite in Bensalem was nearly out of bottled water Sunday afternoon. Supermarket shelves in Lower Bucks were empty Sunday afternoon after Philadelphia officials issued a drinking water advisory after chemicals that spilled in Bristol entered a Delaware River tributary. Aqua Pennsylvania, which supplies water in Lower Bucks said the spill has not impacted system.

Is my water safe to use?

On Sunday afternoon, Philadelphia Water advised residents that water treated at the Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Facility could potentially be impacted.

Aqua Pennsylvania officials, though, noted there are a number of important differences between its water sources and distribution system and the Philadelphia Water Department.

The river water supply that Aqua uses is located above the spill site and the utility has multiple local sources of water that can, and have, been used to support drinking water supplies in the Bristol service area, according to the utility. Multiple water supply sources reduces the chance of running out of water while not taking water from the Delaware River.