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One_Hall_8290 t1_jds3rtg wrote

I can't find any information on the suburbs. Is there any risk in Bensalem? It literally borders Philadelphia, and the spill itself was in Bucks County.

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Expensive_Breath2774 t1_jdsaf6o wrote

College in student in center city. My college is offering everyone one water bottler for free.

The single bottle really cracked me up

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saquonbrady t1_jdsl90d wrote

Please give a visitor some advice about the chemical spill.

Hi,

I was supposed to go to Philadelphia for a work assignment next week. I am just a little apprehensive now, because of the chemical spill news. Is it a bad time to go? Can I still shower at the hotel? Maybe I’m being over reactionary, but I just wanted this subs opinion on whether I should try to beg my work to reschedule this assignment or not? You words would means a lot to me! Thank you

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SkiG13 t1_jdslbjm wrote

Meanwhile in Pittsburgh…

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cringelien t1_jdslstp wrote

any info for the suburbs? how do we know who water is from

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eltruteht t1_jdso6vu wrote

Too bad there’s no way to test water

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Killself98 t1_jdsvr0x wrote

can we idk move the industrial sites that make this stuff away from the fucking rivers where we get drinking water?

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Ham_Ahoy t1_jdsx0yz wrote

That's Delaware for ya, always spilling chemicals everywhere to make other states unsafe. Bunch of criminals that stole our precious Pennsylvania beachfront property

−20

WoodsAreHome t1_jdsxtxe wrote

And the government is worried about TicTok. This place is completely fucked.

−19

mjh215 t1_jdta2s9 wrote

Replying to saquonbrady (#2,377,784)

From what I've gathered (I live near it), the spill, while not good, is not really a toxic material, some latex coating and the amount wasn't that much. Like one train car's worth. I seriously doubt it'll be an issue. I hate to say it but considering how scummy people are, 8,000 gallons of paints and such are probably dumped in that river normally as it is 1 gallon at a time by people pouring stuff out when they are done DIY projects. Watch the news tomorrow, if anything big is actually happening you'll hear about it, otherwise, continue with your trip plans.

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Scared_Mirror5967 t1_jdtewyi wrote

Is this associated with the chlorine smell on air over last few days? Thought that was from an meteorological inversion, but maybe not?

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rcher87 t1_jdtibcb wrote

Replying to saquonbrady (#2,377,784)

My very real feeing is that if the water isn’t fully safe by next week we’ll hear MUCH more about this in the coming days/week.

And also the whole region will run out of bottled water (lol? Kind of?)

So while showering sounds like it’s fine now (and technically they’re saying ingestion “shouldn’t cause any short term issues”, so technically we could drink the water now if we wanted to), if there’s any hint of any issues for more than another day or so I expect a full uprising - think about the restaurants, coffee shops, and hotels whose businesses are on the line. Not even just residents, everyone will be throwing a FIT.

(The spill doesn’t impact the majority of the city but the affected plant does serve Center City and South Philly, and a few other neighborhoods it seems - again, some wealthy places with wealthy businesses.)

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saquonbrady t1_jdtllo5 wrote

Replying to rcher87 (#2,382,322)

Interesting. I’m apprehensive at the moment. Hopefully we get an update by Wednesday cause I’ll be in Chicago via la and I’m looking to just hop over to Philly without coming back to la

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ThankMrBernke t1_jdtnsrf wrote

Replying to saquonbrady (#2,377,784)

You're fine. As of right now, the Philadelphia Water Department and the other authorities are saying the water is safe to drink, but they are monitoring the situation. So far the response from the authorities seems to be appropriate IMO.

To put in context, the spill was about 8,000 gallons (about the size of a large fuel truck) into the Delaware River, which discharges 100,000 gallons a second. However, the spill was not very far up the river from a treatment plant that serves a large portion of the city. They're monitoring the situation, as they should be in a case like this, but the guidance right now is that water is safe to drink but people should stay alert for further developments.

You're definitely fine to shower. If the situation develops and you shouldn't drink the water, your hotel will provide bottled water.

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ThankMrBernke t1_jdto5t6 wrote

Replying to cringelien (#2,377,836)

I googled "[town name] water source" and was able to figure out where it came from in about 10 minutes (ours comes from Neshaminy Creek, which is upriver from the spill). But there's no database or anything that I'm aware of.

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OccasionallyImmortal t1_jdtu2dr wrote

Replying to ProfessorDerp22 (#2,383,765)

Deregulation can work IF companies aren't shielded from the costs of their mistakes. Anyone responsible for something like this should be made to bear the full cost of the cleanup and need to purchase bottled water.

Public utilities and private companies granted exemptions are immune to the consequences of their actions. No one should be.

−11

BrainWav t1_jdtv203 wrote

I mean, no one in their right mind drinks straight Philly tap water anyway.

−7

Melissajoanshart t1_jdtxolg wrote

Replying to BrainWav (#2,384,127)

Philly has a world famous water works. We’re one of the first. Besides the corporate pigs poisoning our wells our tap water system is great even with wooden logs as pipes. You obviously haven’t enjoyed philly tap in your life.

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BrainWav t1_jdtxuuz wrote

Replying to Melissajoanshart (#2,384,496)

No, no I haven't. When I was in college, drinking the tap water made me feel sick. Filtering it through a Brita helped, but it still had a funky taste. When I visit family in Manayunk or get water at any restaurant, it has that same funky taste, and that's through a filter as well.

−5

just_an_ordinary_guy t1_jdu2ztx wrote

Replying to Killself98 (#2,379,098)

As great as it sounds, it's pretty much impossible. A lot of chemicals are moved by ship/barge, so being along the river is pretty much a must. If you introduce pipelines or more trucking, that's just more risk for spills. On top of that, moving them would be prohibitively expensive and would probably result in a relatively unspoiled area getting destroyed to place the new location. The better way is to a) reduce they need for whatever chemicals and along with that better regulate their handling and enforcement to go with that.

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OccasionallyImmortal t1_jdu7roy wrote

Replying to noire_nipples (#2,385,613)

We could define it that broadly. However, compensation for damages and even criminal charges are what we do for everything. They aren't laws specific to an industry, which is the way we normally think of regulation. If this were ordinary regulation, we'd already be forcing companies/governments to do this. No one will compensate Philadelphians for the cost of their bottled water. No one will face charges. They probably should.

−3

internetonsetadd t1_jduu10n wrote

Replying to BrainWav (#2,384,507)

Water in Wynnefield Heights, Somerton, Rhawnhurst, and Bustleton all tasted like worms cooking on pavement to me. Grew up on it, hated it. I split time between the city and suburbs, which is probably why I noticed the nasty taste. I trust the water from a quality standpoint, but the flavor was ass all over.

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HistoricalChicken t1_jduvdu7 wrote

Replying to One_Hall_8290 (#2,375,588)

According to Aqua PA there was only 1 plant effected and they shut it down immediately upon hearing of the spill. The rest of their intakes are all up river from the spill, meaning the surrounding area’s water supply is safe. Regardless, they are testing constantly.

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HistoricalChicken t1_jduvjrk wrote

Replying to cringelien (#2,377,836)

According to Aqua PA there was only 1 plant effected and they shut it down immediately upon hearing of the spill. The rest of their intakes are all up river from the spill, meaning the surrounding area’s water supply is safe. Regardless, they are testing constantly.

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PM_ME_DIRTY_DANGLES t1_jdv3zon wrote

It's in the article, but just in case anyone wants a TL;DR of the responsible parties:

Altuglas, a subsidiary of Trinseo PLC

CEO Frank Bozich

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noire_nipples t1_jdv62q5 wrote

Replying to OccasionallyImmortal (#2,385,657)

While I agree these people should face charges and compensate Philadelphians, I fundamentally disagree that any form of legislation that would encompass that could be do broad as to cover more than one industry without either being unenforceable due to it applying to literally everyone, or ineffective because it's too broad as to verifiably argue for anyone to follow it.

2

misteryham OP t1_jdvf1f7 wrote

Replying to PM_ME_DIRTY_DANGLES (#2,389,836)

THANK YOU. Why are we not talking about this company at all? Why is the entire conversation around marginally not great communication from a department that’s actually been doing a fine job keeping us safe (with some hiccups, but the water is still fine so far)

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Otherwise_Comfort_95 t1_jdvklx3 wrote

the city should suspend their soda tax for 2 weeks. Soda is healthier than water right now

1

Loot_my_body t1_jdwd5wb wrote

This is why I sell water filtration systems in Pa, NJ, and OH. Water is terrible everywhere.

−1

rcher87 t1_je0uxqt wrote

Replying to saquonbrady (#2,419,413)

r/Philadelphia has a great mega-thread with continuous updates, I encourage you to check it out!!!

As for where things stand right now:

  • Water is safe to drink and use until at least Wednesday night at 11:59pm
  • They’ll keep testing and updating us regularly, any threat/concern should pass within a week (not sure if this meant a week from the spill AKA Friday or a week from when I read that AKA next Monday)
  • Really, the water is fine. Especially for showering, cleaning, dishes, etc. Even if they find the chemicals, the water is fine for those purposes.
1

ThankMrBernke t1_je0zn7c wrote

Replying to saquonbrady (#2,419,627)

You will be fine. 100,000 gallons of water move through the Delaware every second. The spill was 8,000 gallons. The concern was that the spill, while small in comparison to the river, could be in high enough concentration that some water could enter a treatment plan a few miles downstream of where the spill was. I am not a hydrologist or something, but I'd bet money on the river washing any final traces of the spill away from the area near the intake valves (which they are constantly monitoring with extra diligence and testing because of the spill - and they haven't had cause for concern yet) .

Honestly the story here is how the city officials fucked things up and got everybody panicked and told them to buy bottled water, than retracted that statement 2 hours later. Ever since then, they've said consistently that the water is safe. But by then the fear had spread and people were scared the government was telling the truth or not, if they heard the new news at all. Tbh, I think somebody jumped the gun on sending out the warning.

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