Drinking Water

By Bob Gariano

This year Illinois colleges and universities will graduate more than 1000 civil engineers. The title does not have to do with proper etiquette or social poise. It describes a course of study that involves designing buildings and infrastructure projects like roads and bridges. One of the most popular of the civil engineering specialties is environmental engineering. These graduates will often be employed by municipalities and private companies that manage the sanitary systems and water supplies of our towns and villages. A strong case could be made that this profession has done more to ensure the health of Americans than all of the medical and pharmaceutical industry combined.

Municipalities in northeastern Illinois have a water supply advantage because of the proximity of Lake Michigan. In 1866, Chicago’s Board of Public Works, under the direction of their chief engineer, Ellis Chesbrough, completed a tunnel under the floor of the lake. The tunnel connected the city’s water supply system to an intake crib two miles from shore. By 1900 there were multiple tunnels and these were integrated into what is today the largest single water supply system for any city in the world. The use of chlorine to disinfect our drinking water began in 1916. In 1930 Chicago completed installation of a modern filtration plant to reduce turbidity in the drinking water supply.

As Chicago’s need for water increased in the last century, so did the demands in the northern suburbs. Kenilworth, for instance, installed their first village pump house in 1890. The system used a suction well which drew water through the lake bed sand as a natural filter. The suction well was powered by steam driven pumps and these fed water to the first water mains. In 1926, Kenilworth switched to electric motors to power the pumps and also installed their first chlorination system. In that same year, Kenilworth completed a 200,000 gallon water tower that allowed for steady water pressure in the village, a necessity in a water systems built on flat terrain. Kenilworth today is served by one of the most modern water plants in the country. Located at the end of Kenilworth Avenue, the plant supplies water for water mains and fire hydrants through the village. In addition, Kenilworth has a modern water storage tower located at Exmoor Road and Roger Avenue.

Similarly, Lake Forest has invested in their town’s water system. The system serving the City of Lake Forest draws water from the surface of Lake Michigan through 42 inch pipelines and into a modern ultrafiltration membrane system. Lake Forest’s water plant, located at 1441 Lake Road, is open for visits each week day during normal business hours. Staffed by nine full time operators, the plant runs 24 hours a day every day of the year and treats one and one half billion gallons of water for city residents each year.

Municipal drinking water quality is closely monitored by state and federal officials. Northshore communities are known for their efficient and clean water systems. They all exceed the federal standards for safe potable water supplies. Interested citizens can visit their local municipal websites to see the annual published reports of water quality. This vigilance of safe drinking water has increased with technical advances. For example, some of these water quality reports indicate contaminant levels down to parts per billion (PPB), a level of detection unheard of even two decades ago. This level of analytical protocol is impressive when one considers that one ppb is equivalent to a ratio of in time of one second every thirty two years or in volume of one small drop of water in an Olympic size swimming pool.

Most of the time we give little thought to the engineering professionals and modern systems that supply the water that we use every day. That is not the case in other parts of the world. Water borne diseases like cholera represent one of the world’s most significant health problems. Water borne diseases kill more that 3 million people each year around the world, many of them children or the elderly. It is good reason that we should appreciate the American civil and environmental engineers who work to constantly improve our drinking water quality while expanding supply capacity to meet new demands.