The Crusader: Kari K. Steele, President, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District 

Every year on November 19, the world pauses to recognize World Toilet Day, an observance that may sound simple at first, but speaks to one of the most fundamental issues of dignity, health, and equity in our global society. This year’s theme, “We’ll Always Need the Toilet,” is a powerful reminder that no matter how much our world changes, the basic necessity of safe, reliable sanitation does not.

Today, 3.4 billion people lack safely managed sanitation, and projections show that 3 billion will still be without safe toilets by 2030 unless global efforts increase dramatically. This is a profound public health and infrastructure failure, one that often remains hidden because sanitation systems, when functioning, operate quietly in the background. Yet when they break down or are absent entirely, the impacts are immediate and disproportionately borne by women, girls, older adults, and individuals with disabilities who face heightened risks without access to safe, private facilities.

As President of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), I am acutely aware that sanitation is not only a global challenge, it is a local one. Here in Cook County, we face our own pressures: intense storms, aging infrastructure, shifting water availability, and the increasing impacts of climate change, all of which place stress on the very systems that protect public health. 

The United Nations findings mirror our lived reality: pollution, air quality, and unpredictable weather threaten sanitation services everywhere, especially in vulnerable communities. That is why sustaining a resilient sanitation system is critical, not only through institutional investment, but through each of us doing our part. The choices we make at home, from what we flush to how we protect our waterways, directly shape the health and longevity of the system that safeguards us all.

That is why the MWRD is committed to building what the UN calls “future-ready sanitation.” For us, this means more than maintaining pipes and plants, it means maintaining and designing systems that are resilient.

We are investing in…

• Infrastructure built to withstand frequent extreme rain events and stronger storms
• Expanding water reuse and nutrient recovery to create a circular, sustainable water economy
• Green infrastructure and community-focused stormwater solutions that advance both resilience and equity

And most importantly, we remain focused on people, the residents we serve, the communities that count on us, and the thousands of sanitation workers across the world who put their lives at risk to keep systems running. Sanitation is a human right, and the MWRD works every day to uphold that right with integrity, innovation, and service.

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