The Water Department of the U.S. city of Philadelphia has advised the vast majority of the city’s population to consume bottled water as a result of a serious spill of more than 30,000 liters of latex into the Delaware River off Bucks County.
The contaminated liquid leaked on Friday and may have already reached the Baxter water treatment plant. So far, no traces of the chemicals have been detected in tap water, but bottled water has been recommended as a precautionary measure as of 2 p.m. Sunday.
»On Friday night there was a chemical spill in Bristol, in Bucks County, which has caused the contamination of the Delaware River,» explained the deputy director of the Delaware Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability, Michael Carroll, reports the portal PhillyVoice.
The Philadelphia Water Department is aware through the Delaware Valley Early Warning System and is assessing the situation to understand the potential consequences to the public. We continue to monitor the situation and conduct tests, although early data does not reveal contamination,» he added.
The affected areas are South Philadelphia, Center, Northeast Philadelphia, North Philadelphia, River Quarter part of Germantown, Olney, East Oak Lane and West Oak Lane. People in the affected areas should avoid drinking and cooking with tap water.
»No contaminants have been found in our water system so far and we expect no risk until 2 p.m. today, but we cannot be 100 percent sure that there will be no trace amounts of these chemicals in the system’s water throughout the afternoon, (so) we want the public to be informed so they can decide whether to use bottled water to minimize risk,» Carroll said.
Many supermarkets in the area have already run out of bottled water.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
