The Reversal of the Chicago River: Saving a City

Sitting on the Seadog deck, the group of tourists waited for the prepared camera worriedly, and tapped their feet lightly as the boat began to move again. The explanation of the meeting with the tour guide is an infinite speech and tourists do rarely care about it, instead of listening to the history of Chicago. What they are missing is an important fact as to where they are and why they are waiting for the rock. This is important not only for the history of Chicago but also for the history of many major civil engineering projects in the future.

In 2015, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Metropolitan Planning Commission announced efforts in the Chicago River Basin. This is a city-wide "vision process" to formulate a long-term plan to purify and reintegrate the three rivers in the Chicago system. City Life - Chicago, Calumet, Desplaines rivers. However, despite the backward flow of the Chicago River, the integrated system of city sewerage and rainwater still flooded during the main storm case and could flood the river, canal and Lake Michigan. According to the Chicago Tribune, 18.2 billion gallons of pollution entered the river last year. Chicago plans to eliminate the system spillover through a complete tunnel and reservoir plan called the Deep Tunnel Project, which began in 1975, and will be completed in 2029.

The Chicago River has famous waste in the past. Originally, this 150-mile waterway was used to move the fast-growing industry in the Midwestern city. Little attention has been paid to the environment and citizen's values. By the turn of the century it was polluted by sewage and factory waste. When the Chicago River flooded with flooding, it flowed into Michigan Lake, bringing serious danger to residents' health, and in 1900 it was reversed and the flow reversed. Wastewater from Lake Michigan and waste water leaving this area to the Mississippi River. This reversal is important every year to protect thousands of Chicago people from waterborne diseases such as colds and cholera.

In 1900, when MWRD changed the flow of the Chicago River from Michigan Lake to the Mississippi River Basin, it completed one of its best technologies. The reversal of flow succeeded in discharging harmful pollutants from the lake, but it did not address the processing of the river itself. Indeed, over the years MWRD has refused to sterilize sewers-rich rivers, ignoring the fact that many residents are using rivers for boating, fishing and swimming. After dozens of years of effort, MWRD continued to resist disinfection because its price was high and the health benefits were not clear. Under the great pressure of EPA regional director and water purification advocacy group, the district finally voted for disinfection in 2011.