Philadelphia tap water worries: Here's what we know
UPDATE: Philadelphia tap water officially safe after chemical spill, Mayor Jim Kenney says
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A chemical spill last week in Bucks County prompted the city of Philadelphia to advise residents to not drink tap water for several hours Sunday.
The advisory was eventually rescinded, and city officials said Tuesday that tap water is safe for all uses until at least 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.
Here's what we know:
Where did the spill happen?
The chemical spill happened last Friday at Trinseo Altuglas LLC in Bristol, Bucks County.
The city says the spill of 8,100 and 12,000 gallons of a latex emulsion product made its way into Otter Creek and then into the Delaware River.
What is the chemical?
Trinseo Altuglas LLC described the chemical as 50% water and 50% latex polymer. The plant manufactures acrylic resins.
CBS Philadelphia spoke with an environmental public health expert from Drexel University Sunday to learn more about the chemical.
Has any water in Philly been contaminated?
The city says contaminants related to the spill have not entered the Philadelphia Water Department's water system.
Overall, 40 tests have been done by the water department since the initial advisory, and they all came back negative, according to the city. The latest test was done at around 4 p.m. Monday.
Officials say people with latex allergies would not be impacted if latex got into the water.
Where are the potentially impacted areas?
The entire city isn't impacted by potential contamination.
Residents can track the impact of the spill on a map provided by the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management.
Residents in the orange zip codes in the picture above could be potentially impacted by the spill because their water comes from Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant.
If you live west of the Schuylkill River, you won't be impacted, according to the city.
Are American Water, Aqua Pennsylvania customers impacted?
There's been a flurry of questions on whether residents outside of Philadelphia are impacted by the chemical spill.
But as of Tuesday afternoon, they're not.
Aqua Pennsylvania told CBS Philadelphia their tap water is safe to use.
New Jersey American Water gets water from the Delaware River, but so far, their testing has shown chemicals from the Bristol spill have not gotten into their system.
Bensalem Township officials are continuing to monitor the situation and say the water in the area is safe for all uses.
When will the situation be resolved?
The city says they expect there will be no residual plume and no contamination of residual water by Wednesday or Thursday.
Current modeling indicates the remnants of the spill are expected to move downstream of Baxter, however, a water distribution plan is in place as a contingency to help the most vulnerable populations.
Philly officials say they will continue to test to guarantee that no contaminated water entered the PWD's system. The city says a conservative estimate hopes to have the situation completely resolved by next week.
What about schools and restaurants?
Closures at schools and restaurants in Philadelphia are not recommended at this time, Mike Carroll, the deputy managing director for transportation, infrastructure and sustainability of Philadelphia, said.
The city is recommending residents in Philly to store up to three days worth of water as a precaution based off FEMA guidelines as a precaution.
What about using a Brita filter?
City officials said during a news conference Monday that water filters like Brita wouldn't be able to filter out the chemicals if they were found in Philadelphia tap water.
They also said boiling the water wouldn't work.
