Videos Show Panicked Run on Bottled Water After Pennsylvania Chemical Spill

Videos posted to social media Sunday afternoon showed panicked Pennsylvanians rushing to purchase bottled water following a chemical spill into the Delaware River over the weekend.

More than 8,000 gallons of a latex-finishing solution spilled into the Delaware River Friday night, prompting Philadelphia city officials to close intakes at a key water treatment plant and advise residents to "consider switching to bottled water" to avoid the potential ingestion of chemicals.

The warning issued at 11:30 a.m. Saturday afternoon quickly sparked a frenzy on purchasing bottled water at local grocery stories. Footage showing empty shelves and long lines dotted Twitter Sunday afternoon, even as authorities later advised that tap water will be safe to drink until at least 11:59 p.m. Monday night.

One video, posted by Catastrophe Risk Modeling Analyst Ben Ames, showed a long line at a local Target, with residents lined up to purchase large packages of bottled water.

"Line at Target to buy bottled water 10 minutes after the city of #Philadelphia sent out an alert regarding a spill in the Delaware River," Ames tweeted.

Shlomo Schorr, the associate director of the New Jersey Office of Agudath Israel of America, tweeted a video showing empty shelves at a Philadelphia-area supermarket.

"Supermarkets throughout the Philadelphia region are seeing a run on bottled water after the city recommended residents stay away from using tap water following a chemical leak in a Bucks County creek near the Delaware River over the weekend," he wrote.

Twitter user @WalkingPhilly shared a video showing people in one market in line carrying handfuls of water bottles.

Pennsylvania Chemical Spill: Latest Updates

In a 3:30 p.m. update on Sunday, Philadelphia officials addressed widespread purchases of bottled water, writing that tap water will be safe to drink at least through Monday based on hydraulic modeling and recent samples.

"There is no need to buy water at this time. Customers can fill bottles or pitchers with tap water with no risk at this time. We will provide a media update at approximately 5 p.m. today," the update reads.

This estimate is based on "the time it will take river water that entered the Baxter intakes early Sunday morning to move through treatment and water mains before reaching customers," according to the update.

Earlier Sunday, officials made the advisory against using tap water "out of an abundance of caution," though no contaminants have been found in the city's water.

"Nonetheless, because we cannot be 100 percent sure that there won't be traces of these chemicals in the tap water throughout the afternoon, we want the public to be aware so that people can consider switching to bottled water to further minimize any risk," Michael Carrol, deputy managing director for the City's Office of Transportation, wrote in the alert.

Newsweek reached out to the Philadelphia Water Department for comment via email.