Ep. 1: Safe Drinking Water, Delaware River Chemical Spill

A chemical spill in the Delaware River has caused confusion and panic among Philadelphia residents. Despite city officials’ assurances that tap water is currently safe, many people are still concerned and bottled water in the city remains scarce.

We’ll explain the state’s cleanup and monitoring efforts, the risk of chemicals in our waterways and to our water treatment systems and what safeguards should be put in place.

Susan Phillips covers energy, environment, and climate change for WHYY News (@susanphill)

Pat Patterson is the Pennsylvania DEP Southeast Regional Director (@pennsylvaniadep)

Maya Van Rossum is the Delaware Riverkeeper (@DelRiverkeeper)

Chuck Haas is a Professor of Environmental Engineering at Drexel University (@ProfCharlesHaas)

From Billy Penn, Bottled water frenzy: Scenes from Philly stores after the city’s warning about drinking from the tap “The long lines and cleared-out shelves drew plenty of comparisons to early-pandemic times, when everyday necessities like toilet paper sold out at stores.”

From WHYY News, Philly leaders say water contamination threat a ‘teachable moment’ for emergency preparedness “…the city issued a warning on Sunday, not a mandatory call for people to buy bottled water, in an abundance of caution to warn people of the situation at hand.”