Daily News | Where Philly’s drinking water comes from
The Philadelphia Water Department provides drinking water for 1.7 million residents of the city as well as Lower Bucks County. And where you live in the city determines which of its two rivers you drink from.The city has three main drinking water plants that treat 230 million gallons of water daily. The Baxter treatment plant in Torresdale takes in water from the Delaware River and serves about 58% of the city. The Queen Lane and Belmont plants take in water from the Schuylkill.
The plants use an elaborate process that screens out solids, doses it with chlorine, and filters through layers of sand, gravel, and carbon. The water is dosed again with chlorine to preserve it on a journey through miles of pipe to individual homes and businesses.for more than 90 contaminants. It also has to follow secondary standards for 15 contaminants that aren’t enforced but that have suggested levels. There is also a separate Lead and Copper Rule.
It tests for PFAS, although it does not currently have the ability to remove that class of chemicals. However, it will almost certainly have to in the coming years under