As heavy rain soaks Chicago area, officials issue "Overflow Action Day" to urge people to use less water
heavy rainfall began falling across the Chicago area
on Wednesday, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District was urging people to cut down on their water use, to help limit
flooding
.
The MWRD handles stormwater management and wastewater treatment in the Chicago area, and issued an overflow action alert on Tuesday in an effort to prevent flooding by limiting how much water goes into the sewer system.
On days like Wednesday, when it's constantly raining, the MWRD water waste control room stays on high alert. Officials said there have been more weather alerts in recent years.
While it might not be the first thing on your mind when you wake up on a rainy day, running your dishwasher and washing clothes are chores the MWRD wants Chicagoans to avoid on Wednesday.
"Also, take shorter showers; anything you can do to make sure we have more space available in those local sewer lines so that water can get to the MWRD," said MWRD president Kari Steele.
The number of overflow action alerts issued by MWRD has been rising.
"It's not that often, but it is picking up more now, because of climate change. We're starting to see more extreme rain events in the Cook County area," Steele said.
The MWRD's Tunnel and Reservoir Plan, also known as TARP or "The Deep Tunnel," is designed to reduce flooding and pollution caused by combined sewer overflows.
The Deep Tunnel system is designed to capture stormwater and sewage that otherwise would flow into local lakes and rivers – or into basements – when heavy rain overwhelms sewers.
TARP has three reservoirs that receive and store the flow from the tunnels during heavy storms.
"Our Thornton Reservoir is just at about 2% capacity full, and the McCook Reservoir is at about 20% capacity," Steele said.
As of Wednesday morning, the Majewsi Reservoir near Elk Grove Village was empty, but with the rain event being unpredictable, that's why the MWRD sends out overflow action day alerts before storms arrive.
"It's very important that we have space available in the local sewer lines so that it can travel to the MWRD and stay out of those unwanted places, like our basements," Steele said.
The overflow action day alert will stay in effect until after the storm ends. Officials typically keep such alerts in place for several hours, or even day or two after a big storm ends since stormwater will continue flowing into sewers long after rainfall is over.
The Tunnel and Reservoir Plan has been around since 1985. It has 109 miles of tunnels, some as large as 33 feet in diameter.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
05-08-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: Smoky air should not become a permanent hallmark of Chicago summers
We're more than two-thirds of the way through Chicago's meteorological summer, and so far when the weather hasn't been suffocatingly hot and humid, it's featured air that's dangerous for too many of us to breathe. Sweltering conditions are a normal part of summer in Chicago — some years more so than others, of course — but when the winds blow from the north, Chicagoans are supposed to be able to breathe a sigh of relief and head for the tennis courts or the baseball/softball diamonds or the bike trails. Or, at the very least, their patios and porches. For the past three years, that temperature relief has been accompanied by plumes of smoke from wildfires raging all the summer long in Canada. The end of last week's heat wave brought daily warnings of poor air quality, with Chicago tabbed Thursday as having the worst air quality in the entire world. The warnings continued through most of the weekend. For many, the conditions made our eyes itchy and were just sort of bothersome. But for those who suffer from asthma and other pulmonary ailments, the air was downright hazardous. If this situation were a one-off — just a uniquely awful set of circumstances north of the border — we'd be inclined to give Canada a pass. But this is becoming a regular ordeal, and it's time people who can do something about it acknowledge the issue — and act. That means Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who took office earlier this year and will have no such excuses next summer. That also means President Donald Trump. We mention our president because he has spent much of his first six months in office bullying and trolling Canada over trade, national defense and whether that sovereign nation ought to become just another U.S. state. We've criticized Trump for treating one of this country's most stalwart friends on the world stage as an adversary. Among other things, the natural offense Canadians have taken to Trump's provocations and threats has led many to boycott travel to the U.S. One look at Las Vegas' underwhelming summer traffic suggests this needless antagonism with Canada is costing the U.S. directly. We'd love to see Trump abandon his self-defeating economic battle with Canada over products such as lumber and focus instead on a Canadian export that truly is damaging America — wildfire smoke. A large swath of the U.S. — essentially the entire Upper Midwest, including states such as Wisconsin and Michigan that were key to Trump's 2024 victory — is enduring unacceptable health and other risks because of these blazes. While wildfires are common in Canada given that vast geographic territory's abundance of unsettled areas, it's only been in recent years that the conflagrations have grown so large. Unlike the U.S., which long has supported a substantial force to fight wildfires, primarily in the West, Canada's firefighters are mainly focused on blazes in municipalities. Essentially, Canada has said it doesn't have the capacity to battle these wildfires before they get so out of control that they must burn themselves out or rage on for months until the seasons change. The U.S. has sent hundreds of firefighters to help in recent years, but the efforts haven't been sufficient. This is not a new summertime status quo to which Chicagoans and other Upper Midwesterners simply should be told to get accustomed. It's unacceptable and should be treated as such. We're not saying that solving a problem driven by large-scale climatic changes is simple — or cheap. There's a reason Canada isn't equipped like the U.S. to battle fires sparked in wilderness areas. Our neighbor to the north hasn't needed the capability in the past. It does now. To be fair, the United States has faced its own reckoning with increasingly destructive wildfires, especially in the West. But we've built up a robust federal firefighting infrastructure over decades in response — something Canada is only now beginning to consider on a national scale. What's needed is for leaders to make this scourge a priority. Where there's a will there's a way, especially given the wealth held in North America. Surely, in coming summers, the U.S. could contribute expertise and even personnel while Canada invests in early detection and extinguishment of these fires. In return, Trump could drop his trade-related threats and demands and focus on a U.S.-Canadian problem that directly affects millions of American lives. How about if both countries committed to action that truly would be beneficial on both sides of the border? A win-win. What a novel concept.
Chicago Tribune
04-08-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Air quality ‘moderate' in most of Cook County from Canadian wildfire smoke, but worse in northern Illinois
For the fifth day in a row, Chicago's sky looks hazy. Smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to affect air quality across the Midwest, though Monday's conditions were an improvement for most of the Chicago area. Monday morning, most of the city had moved into 'moderate' on the U.S. Air Quality Index, meaning the air is safe for most but potentially a risk to those particularly sensitive to air quality. The northern part of Cook County, however — especially around O'Hare International Airport — were still listed as 'unhealthy for sensitive groups.' Air quality alerts issued across Illinois as Chicago ranks worst in the world. But how safe are you inside your home?As wind picks up later Monday afternoon, the layer of smoke hazing Chicago's skyline is expected to disperse. There will still be some smoke tomorrow, however, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Ratzer. Chicago will see a high of 82 Monday, or a few degrees cooler by the Lakefront. Ratzer expected wind speeds up to 10 mph, with partly to mostly cloudy skies throughout the day. Temperatures are expected to rise throughout the rest of the week. Tuesday will bring mostly sunny skies and slightly warmer temperatures, with a high in the mid-80s. There is a 20% chance of thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday, temperatures will climb into the upper 80s; Thursday through Saturday, into the lower 90s, and Sunday back down to the 80s. Sunday also has a chance of afternoon showers or thunderstorms. Humidity will increase slightly throughout the week but Ratzer emphasized it will not be like the extreme heat conditions Chicagoans dealt with in the last few weeks.
CBS News
29-07-2025
- CBS News
Verizon installing 50 flood sensors in Chicago to provide real-time alerts about flash flooding
Only days after intense rain flooded out streets and homes on the South and Southwest sides of Chicago, the city plans to launch a new high-tech system to warn people about flash flooding. The city, Verizon, and the Center for Neighborhood Technology are teaming up to deploy 50 flood sensors across the city to provide city officials, first responders, and residents real-time alerts via an app. The sensors will be launched in Chicago on Aug. 11, although it's unclear how soon Chicagoans could begin registering for real-time alerts on their phones about flooding. The announcement comes just days after a line of thunderstorms brought up to six inches of rain in less than two hours in the Bridgeport neighborhood and other parts of the South and Southwest sides on Friday.
