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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is relatively far from the ocean, but rising oceans may still threaten the city’s drinking water.
That's because most of it comes from the Delaware River, which flows southward toward the Bay of Delaware.
As the ocean rises, more salty water in the bay is getting closer to the city's drinking water intake. During drought, it may feel uncomfortable.
Shallcross: “There is a lot of energy in the ocean that pushes that salty water upstream. When the flow is low, the freshwater will dilute and push it downstream less.”
Amy Shallcross serves on the Delaware River Basin Council.
When this happens, officials release fresh water from the reservoir to remove the salt water.
However, as the ocean rises and precipitation becomes more unstable, sometimes there may not be enough water in the water in the reservoir.
Allcross: “So, after the summer dryness, if we fall to dry, we can get stuck in a situation where we really work to meet this salinity rejection program requirement.”
In preparation, officials are evaluating whether they need to build more storage, even moving drinking water upstream.
So, Anchors said drinking water in Philadelphia is safe. But officials may need to make expensive changes to keep this way.
Report Credit: Ethan Freedman/Chavobart Digital Media
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