Chicago plugging away at water efficiency

This being the first story in the What Our Water’s Worth campaign, it makes sense to start where most of the region’s water starts … Chicago.

Consider the numbers: Every day, the City of Chicago Dept. of Water Management pumps approximately 850 million gallons of water out of Lake Michigan, serving about 5.5 million people (or 44 percent of Illinois' total population) in the city and suburbs. Chicago alone has nearly 4,500 miles of underground pipes just for transporting drinking water — roughly the distance from Boston, Mass., to Anchorage, Alaska.

“Chicago strives to ensure high-quality water for the whole region, but we’re also trying to have the most efficient systems possible,” said Peter Mulvaney, assistant commissioner, Chicago’s Dept. of Water Management. That struggle for efficiency — minimizing leaks, foreseeing main breaks, replacing older pipes — is not only daunting, but never-ending.

Read how Chicago is taking steps to maintain and modernize its water system — and learn what you can do to help — by reading the rest of this story on the What Our Water's Worth blog.

Conservation tips

You can help reduce water leakage and waste in your community and home. Here's how:

Pick up the phone. If you see standing water in the street, potholes full of water on a dry day, or fire hydrants that have been opened, call your local water utility.

Check your house. Checking your home's total water leakage is easy. Here's a step-by-step guide from the Alliance for Water Efficiency. 

Get a meter. This mostly applies to residents of Chicago, where approximately 327,000 homes are without a water meter. If you don't have one, find out how to get one at www.metersave.org.

November 2010
www.chicagolandh2o.org

What Our Water’s Worth is an ongoing campaign led by the Metropolitan Planning Council and Openlands to raise awareness about the value of water in northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana. From Lake Michigan to the Fox River, how we use our water resources — including what we conserve, how much we waste, and what we choose to invest in water quality — is up to each of us. This is our water — and it's worth more than we know.

WOWW factors

130 million gallons lost/day
The approximate total amount of Lake Michigan water lost daily (leaked or otherwise unaccounted for) from public pipes throughout northeastern Illinois in 2005.

124 million gallons pumped/day
For perspective, the approximate total daily water demand for Kane, Kendall and McHenry counties' combined population (866,000) in 2005. 

11 of 204 recipients
In 2008, the number of Illinois' Lake Michigan water recipients whose percentage of unaccounted for flow (UFF) exceeded Ill. Dept of Natural Resources' 8 percent standard. UFF water generates no revenue; it is pumped out by the utility, but never paid for. 

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