To the Temple community,

As we noted last night, the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) has communicated that the city’s tap water is and will remain safe to drink and use at least through 11:59 p.m. tonight. 

Yesterday, when we received the initial guidance from the city, we began to cover water fountains across campus. This decision was made out of an abundance of caution and informed by the best available information that the city had provided at that time. 

However, the City of Philadelphia has since confirmed that the water is safe to drink through today. We are now uncovering the fountains, which will ensure they are available to the public. We will continue to reassess access to the drinking fountains, dependent on the guidance we receive from the PWD and the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management, which both continue to monitor the latex spill that occurred earlier this weekend in Bucks County. 

This is an evolving situation that requires flexibility from the entire Temple community. Based on guidance from the City of Philadelphia, we are recommending that the Temple community fill water containers as an emergency preparedness measure.  

We are working through a strategy to distribute bottled water on campus on a limited basis, if the need emerges. It is imperative that the water we potentially distribute is prioritized for our populations that need it most, like our patients and residential students. 

In the meantime, we want to again assure you that the city has confirmed that the tap water on campus is safe, both for consumption and bathing, through at least 11:59 p.m. today. 

We will continue to provide updates as needed. If at any point we receive word that the water is potentially unsafe, we will notify the Temple community through the TUalert system.  

Additional information on the spill can be found here. For updates from the City of Philadelphia, text ReadyPhila to 888-777 and follow @PhillyH20 and @PhilaOEM on Twitter. 

Temple’s Office of Emergency Management will continue to follow the guidance of the city and send updates as needed. Follow @TempleUOEM and @TempleUniv for university updates.  

Thank you for your continued time and attention to this matter. 

Sincerely,

Nicola Mammes 
Director of Emergency Management