Thornton Composite Reservoir First Fill
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s (MWRD’s) Thornton Composite Reservoir is online and recently took on water for the first time. A stormy Thanksgiving holiday resulted in 400 million gallons of combined sewage and stormwater flowing into the reservoir where the water level reached 17 feet. Though this is a lot of water, it’s only five percent of the reservoir’s 7.9 billion gallon capacity. The water will remain in the reservoir until it is pumped up to the MWRD’s Calumet Water Reclamation Plant to be cleaned.
A major part of the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP, or “Deep Tunnel”), the Thornton Composite Reservoir provides flood protection benefits for 556,000 people in 14 communities throughout the south side of Chicago and south suburbs. It also protects 182,000 homes, businesses and other facilities and improves water quality in the Calumet Rivers and Calumet-Sag Channel by preventing combined sewer overflows.
Thornton Composite Reservoir Ribbon Cutting
The MWRD hosted a ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of the Thornton Composite Reservoir on September 1. A major part of the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP, or “Deep Tunnel”), the 7.9 billion gallon capacity reservoir will provide flood protection benefits for 556,000 people in 14 communities throughout the south side of Chicago and south suburbs. It will protect 182,000 homes, businesses and other facilities and improve water quality in the Calumet Rivers and Calumet-Sag Channel by preventing combined sewer overflows. Officials with the MWRD, including President Mariyana Spyropoulos and Vice Pres. Barbara McGowan, Chairman of Finance Frank Avila, and Commissioners Timothy Bradford, Cynthia Santos, Debra Shore and Kari Steele and Exec. Dir. David St. Pierre, unveiled this latest engineering feat alongside U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lt. Col. Kevin Lovell, state Senator Napolean Harris, IEPA Director Lisa Bonnett; Secretary/Treasurer of Chicago Fed. of Labor Robert Reiter; South Suburban Mayors Exec. Dir. Ed Paesel; and Friends of Chicago River exec. director Margaret Frisbie.
