This impressive feat of engineering not only safeguarded Chicagoans’ public health but it also transformed the city economically.

Here in Cook County, we have one of the most complex and historic water systems in the country. Much of it was built more than a century ago and has served generations of families and businesses.

Considered an engineering marvel that reversed the flow of the Chicago River and transformed the city’s destiny, water from the Chicago River officially flowed into the canal for the first time in January 1900.

The MWRD will analyze the most at-risk portion of the local sanitary sewer system to determine infiltration and inflow sources within the nine communities, which are considered disproportionately impacted areas.

WEFTEC is the largest annual water quality exhibition in North America and offers water quality professionals with education and training in both the private and public sectors as well as student scholars seeking careers in the industry.

To reverse the flow of the Chicago River, the MWRD beginning in 1889 led efforts to construct 61 miles of canals, including the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) in 1900 followed by the North Shore Channel (1910) and Cal-Sag Channel (1922).