Interesting Facts – In the second half of the 19th century, Chicago was one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. In 1870, it was home to 299,000 people, and by the century’s end, 1.7 million. But along with that population boom came unfortunate side effects, including waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid. The problem was in large part that the city’s sewage flowed into the Chicago River, which in turn emptied into Lake Michigan — the source of the city’s drinking water. So Chicago turned to engineer Ellis S. Chesbrough, designer of the city’s sewer system, to solve the problem once and for all. Continue reading →