‘Business as usual’ for coworking spaces amid Philly’s water advisory, with some tweaks

On late Monday afternoon, Philadelphia residents, business owners and office managers alike were making contingency plans as they awaited an update from city officials about the safety of their tap water following a chemical spill that would potentially impact a majority of the city’s drinking water supply.

An updated timeline

In an alarming series of messages on Sunday, March 26, City of Philadelphia officials said residents and workers in a large portion of city boundaries may need to switch to drinking bottled water. The instructions came after a spill of latex chemicals from a Bucks County facility owned by Trinseo PLC occurred on Friday night. The city first alerted residents early Sunday, first saying water should be safe to drink until 2 p.m. that day.

This initial alert caused some panic buying, with local stores selling out of cases of water bottles within the hour. Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant, which serves the potentially impacted areas — check the City’s map here — said later on Sunday that it felt confident water would be safe to drink and use through at least 11:59 p.m. Monday.

“There’s no need at this time for people to be rushing out and buying bottled water,” said Mike Carroll, the deputy managing director for Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability, in a statement Sunday. “Based on all the testing we’re seeing, the situation is one where the potential for contamination is diminishing over time.”

During a press conference Monday evening, the City moved that deadline to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 28. City and Philadelphia Water Department officials said they have been testing the Delaware River, Baxter raw water basin, and multiple locations within the treatment process, and haven’t yet detected any contamination. The latest test results came in Monday at 4 p.m.. hey will continue testing often. They may provide more updates in the morning if the deadline for safe water has changed again.

As time goes on, water department officials said, it’s very possible water contaminants may never enter the city’s water supply.

City officials said during the press conference that this situation should not last longer than Thursday, and may be resolved by Wednesday night. After that point, they will continue monitoring water for another week or so to make sure chemicals have not affected the city’s supply.

The City recommended residents follow FEMA guidelines of having three days of drinking water on hand. Businesses, restaurants and residences can operate as normal through Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. officials said, though they recommended business owners and residents purchase water bottles or fill containers or pitchers with water through tomorrow afternoon to use in case the situation isn’t resolved until Thursday.

Business changes

Indy Hall’s “Skyroom.” (Courtesy photo)

Updates Sunday and Monday left some businesses unsure of operating procedures on Tuesday. A handful of restaurant owners and managers who spoke to the Inquirer said they’d be operating only using bottled water while they monitor health advice from the city this week.

Those operating office buildings or coworking spaces seemed to be following a similar mindset Monday heading into Tuesday. Alex Hillman, head of coworking space and community Indy Hall, told Technical.ly his team is figuring it out as the news updates keep coming, like everyone else.

“Our focus is more on clear communication than any clever answers,” Hillman said in a Slack message. “At the moment we have a small stock of bottled water and have stored enough clean water for at least a couple of days of coffee/tea.”

An email to members of the Northern Liberties-based clubhouse will say the office is open, and the water cooler will be out of service. The team is encouraging folks to bring their own water, if they’re able.

“If it becomes clear this will go longer than a couple of days, we’ll be looking to brainstorm good solutions with the community,” the Indy Hall email reads.

South Philly coworking space Newbold Exchange is doing the same. The 12,000-square-foot coworking space at 1727 Snyder Ave. is stocking up on extra cans of seltzer for everyone. They’re also exploring the option of storing water in the space’s keg system, then putting those on the draft lines, marketing director Reid Benditt told Technical.ly.

“We’re just planning ahead and taking it one day at a time,” he said in an email.

Dave Silver, cofounder of creative coworking space REC Philly, said tomorrow will be “business as usual” in the company’s 10,000-square-foot space in the Fashion District. They’ve unplugged their community water fountain for the time being as they await further instructions from city officials.

“Loading up on bottled water in the meantime,” Silver said in a text.