Philly water is safe to drink through Tuesday afternoon, officials say, but monitoring of chemical spill continues

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia officials say tap water from the Baxter treatment plant is safe to drink at least through 3:30 p.m. Tuesday as they continue to monitor the impact of a chemical spill from a plant upstream on the Delaware River.

So far, no contaminants related to Friday night’s inadvertent discharge of 8,100 gallons of tainted water from the Trinseo plant in Bristol, Bucks County, have been detected at the Baxter water treatment facility, which supplies drinking water for more than half of the city.

Officials said at a briefing Monday that the threat of contamination should pass by Wednesday night or Thursday. The Philadelphia Water Department said it would continue testing drinking water into next week, though, to ensure the water is safe.