18K West Philadelphians Under Boil Water Advisory

PHILADELPHIA — Thousands of West Philadelphians are under a boil water advisory, according to the Philadelphia Water Department.

About 18,000 customer accounts are in the impacted area. This includes customers who lost water or had low pressure in the area of Wynnefield Heights, Wynnefield, Overbrook Farms, Green Hill Farms, Overbrook, Overbrook Park, Morris Park; parts of Carrol Park, Haddington, West Parkside, and West Fairmount Park.

Affected ZIP codes are 19151, and parts of 19131 and 19139.

Customers in an area notified that there is a boil water advisory should not drink the water without boiling it first until further notice.

These instructions are for water used for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and preparing formula.

Bring water to a rolling boil and let it boil for one minute.

Let the water cool before using.

The boil water advisory was issued as a precaution as officials await testing results.

There is no confirmation of any water quality impacts so far.

The chances of people becoming ill due to this event are low.

More testing in the area is taking place this morning and afternoon.

If the results of the testing from Sunday and Monday meet quality standards, officials will inform customers that they no longer need to boil water.

The water department anticipates resolving the problem by June 13, 2023.

Between about 3:45 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. on Sunday, a pumping station serving a section of upper West Philadelphia failed.

This caused a loss of pressure in the system and left some customers without water.

Water pressure is restored, but customers should not use the water without boiling.

Out of caution, customers in this part of the city are being informed that they should boil water before using it for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and preparing formula.

This is because a lack of pressure can create a vacuum that could pull disease-causing organisms such as bacteria into water pipes.

Customers with questions can go to the water department's website or call 215-685-6300 for more information.