Philly residents on a mission to find bottled water after chemical spill
MARLTON, N.J. (CBS) -- The rush to buy bottled water has left many store shelves empty beyond Philadelphia's borders.
Stores as far away as Marlton in South Jersey have empty water bottle shelves as Philadelphians, like Karina Medina, make trips across the Delaware River to find water.
"Right now, I feel like it's like a race. First come, first serve," Medina said. "It's sad because everybody needs the water, and right now, I'm on my mission for water."
In Marlton, Rastelli Market Fresh manager Chris Dougherty said they had a run on water bottles late Sunday afternoon.
"There were a lot of Pennsylvania tags," Dougherty said. "Most of the people had never been to the store, had no idea where the water might be, so there were a lot of questions."
He said Rastelli had a month's supply of bottles that were sold out in just a few hours.
Like Philadelphia, New Jersey American Water gets water from the Delaware River.
Company president Mark McDonough said, so far, their testing has shown chemicals from the Bristol spill have not gotten into their system.
"If we're not certain that the water that is outside of our plant is appropriate to take in, we can close those intakes and then operate the water on reserve water that we've taken in and tested," McDonough said.
New Jersey American Water is asking people in Camden, Burlington and Gloucester Counties to voluntarily conserve water, which McDonough explained, is mainly for people who can postpone projects that involve a lot of water, like filling up a pool.
Meanwhile, people like Deiondre Hall are left stunned to see so many Philadelphians racing around South Jersey to grab water.
"It was a frenzy honestly," Hall said. "A little hectic, lord willing, people got water."