UPDATE: June 13, 6 p.m.
The Philadelphia Water Department has ended the boil water advisory announced Sunday night for parts of West Philadelphia. Customers can resume normal water use without boiling, effective immediately.
In an update released on Tuesday, the Water Department said the advisory was lifted after testing tap water samples in the affected areas on Sunday and Monday revealed no evidence of harmful bacteria.
Original article follows
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A boil water advisory has been issued for parts of West Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Water Department said a pumping station failed Sunday afternoon between 3:45 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. The system lost pressure, and some customers were left without water.
Pressure has since been restored, but there's a chance that untreated water or other contaminants were pulled into the system.
Philadelphia Water says the risk of illness is very low, but they issued an advisory out of an abundance of caution, affecting about 18,000 customers in Wynnefield, Wynnefield Heights, Overbrook Farms, Overbrook, Green Hill Farms, and Morris Park and parts of Carroll Park.
“We really have to confirm through testing before we lift the advisory. So you know, we have to be able to get two negative tests for 48 hours,” said Brian Rademaekers, with the Philadelphia Water Department. If all goes well, he says that’s expected sometime Tuesday.
Until then, the Water Department advises residents to bring water to a boil for a full minute, then let it cool before drinking it. That also goes for any water being used for cooking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and preparing baby formula.
Tuesday is the last day of the academic year in the School District of Philadelphia. Many were concerned about how students would be able to access clean drinking water. Monique Braxton, deputy chief of communications for the district, said 210 cases — “which is more than 5,000 bottles of water” — were delivered to the 19 schools Monday morning.
And 150 more cases were delivered on Monday afternoon — “and that's about 3,600 bottles of water.”
Rademaekers says this situation is different from the chemical spill in March because a specific area is affected, so the water department did not send out a citywide advisory.
“We're trying to strike a balance between sending out a massive alert that could cause panic or have people clear up the shelves of bottled water and not have water there for people who really need it in an area that's impacted.”
Further information is available online at water.phila.gov.