Aqua PA Water Customers Unaffected By Spill, Company Says

BRYN MAWR, PA — Residents and businesses that have water supplied by Aqua Pennsylvania need not worry about their water quality as a result of a latex spill that occurred over the weekend along a tributary of the Delaware River in Bucks County.

Aqua said in a statement that its water does not have any chemicals from the Bristol spill in it.

This is due to Aqua's team shutting off its intake to the Bristol water system as soon as the spill was announced.

"As a result of their fast action, we are not seeing any of the chemicals from the spill in our drinking water," the utility company said. "We continue to monitor the situation while also working closely with state and federal agencies. We will reopen our intake only when we are confident that the source water is safe for our customers and meets our stringent quality standards."

Aqua said its customers do not need to use bottled water.

The water provided to customers is supplied from areas above the spill site.

Aqua also said it has multiple local sources of water that can and have been used to support drinking water supply in the Bristol service area.

Sources include the Crum, Pickering, Brandywine, Perkiomen, Neshaminy, Ridley and Chester creeks, Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, the Upper Merion Quarry, and groundwater from more than 100 deep wells.

The Bristol service area includes Bristol Borough, Bristol Township, Croydon, Lower Bensalem.

In the Philadelphia region, Aqua supplies water to parts of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties.

Latex spilled into a tributary of the Delaware River in Bristol.

Officials said Philadelphia's tap water will be safe to drink until at least 11:59 p.m. Monday.

Residents can find out if they live in a potentially impacted area here.

The city will again open intakes shortly after midnight Monday, but it will take at least 24 hours for that water to reach residents, officials said.

Authorities will continue to test the water and provide updates, with the potential for contamination diminishing over time.

According to officials, water treated at the Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant was safe, citing hydraulic modeling and sampling.

Philadelphia had closed intakes to the Baxter plant as a precaution after the spill but was forced to open them overnight to ensure sufficient water supplies.

Earlier, authorities suggested residents consider using bottled water for drinking and cooking.

Shoppers were seen clearing shelves of water Sunday in the city.