Thirsty? Fill a glass of water from the tap. Ready to cool off? Jump in the shower. Working on the lawn? Turn on the sprinkler. Clean, safe water is there whenever you need it and you probably don't give it much thought. But maybe you should. Glenview's water takes quite a circuitous route before it comes out of your tap or hose.
The Long And Winding Road
It all starts at Lake Michigan. Glenview buys most of its water from the Village of Wilmette, and Wilmette's water plant is right on the waterfront at Lake Avenue (near Gilson Park). Two intake pipes running about a mile out into the lake bring "raw water" into the plant, where it receives a chemical pretreatment. Chlorine acts as a disinfectant, fluoride is added to keep your teeth healthy, carbon improves taste and odor and alum helps clarify the water.
Now the water enters mixing-settling basins. The alum forms a sticky, gelatinous material that attracts about 90 percent of the particles that come in from the lake and it all settles to the bottom of the tank. The last 10 percent is caught by large filters. Phosphate is added to the water, because it coats the pipes and prevents any lead (common in older homes) from leaching into your water supply. Finally, the water makes its way into underground reservoirs and out into pipes heading west toward Glenview.
On Into Glenview
Far beneath the ground at Wilmette and Laramie Avenues, and at Laramie just north of Washington, 9.2 million gallons of water pass into Glenview from Wilmette through two pipes every day (on a hot day that can peak at 17 million gallons!). From there it travels into one of Glenview's five reservoir/pumping stations, where a little extra chlorine is added. In all likelihood you've passed at least one of our reservoir/pumping stations on your travels around town. Together, the stations at Laramie and Wilmette Avenue, Rugen Road near East Lake, West Lake near Pfingsten, Executive by the Lake Avenue underpass east of Pfingsten, and Portage Run north of The Grove hold 15 million gallons (a sixth reservoir will soon bring that total to 18 million gallons).
More prominent are the two elevated water tanks, one on Waukegan south of Glenview Road, one on Central Road, west of Milwaukee. The level of water in these tanks rises and falls with the pressure in the pipes, and is constantly monitored. When the level drops below a certain point, additional pumps start up at the reservoirs.
It Gets More Complicated
To complicate matters further, not all of Glenview's residents receive water from Wilmette. Many unincorporated water customers are served by the North Maine utilities system and receive their water via the City of Chicago. And Glenview doesn't consume all the water it receives. Some of it is sold to the Illinois American Water Company, which serves customers in Mt. Prospect and Prospect Heights.
From Lake to Tap
In the end, though, you probably care most about the water that comes into your house. And this travels through large pipes that leave the reservoir/pumping stations into a series of smaller and smaller pipes that branch out to cover the entire Village. Total Village use rises and falls every day (during half-time on Superbowl Sunday it really jumps!) but whenever you want it, it's there clear and pure all the way from the lake . . . to your glass of water.