Philadelphia’s Water is Now Safe Through Monday Night, Officials Say

A wild Sunday continued this afternoon in the city of Philadelphia.

Officials now say the city's water supply is safe to cook with or drink through at least 11:59 pm Monday night. The announcement was made around 4:30 pm on Sunday (March 26).

Earlier in the day officials had issued a boil water advisory, calling for residents to use bottled water for cooking and drinking.

The developments came following a release of chemicals from a processing plant in Bristol (Bucks County), Pa., which was first reported on Friday night. 

The initial announcement, which called for residents to stop using tap water, was made around 1 pm on Sunday.
At the time of Sunday's alert they said that the city's water was still testing OK, but officials cautioned that could change after 2 pm on Sunday. The city even sent out an emergency alert to cell phones across the city.

It immediately lead to a rush for bottled water across the city (and even into the suburbs) as shoppers flocked to the stores to buy bottled water with little notice. Click here to see pictures of those lines.

“There is no need to buy water at this time,” city officials said in a statement posted online at 4 p.m. “Customers can fill bottles or pitchers with tap water with no risk at this time.”

The water that is currently available to customers was treated before the spill reached Philadelphia and remains safe to drink and use for bathing, cooking, and washing

They say that the updated timeline is based on the time it would take for river water that entered the intakes to move through treatment and water mains as it reaches customers.

This is a developing story. We'll have more information when it's available.