Reduce Water Use After Heavy Rainfall: MWRD

COOK COUNTY, IL — The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago is urging residents across Chicagoland to minimize their use of water after several inches of rain have fallen in the area since Saturday morning. The minimization request is made in hopes of reducing the amount of water flowing into the sewer system, the MWRD said in a news release Wednesday.

Recent storms have caused about 3.83 inches of rain to fall across County County and nearly two inches of rain in the 30 hours prior to noon on Wednesday, according to the MWRD. As a result, the MWRD's 109-mile-long Tunnel and Reservoir Plan is nearing full capacity.

Within the MWRD, the McCook system that served central Chicago and 36 suburbs is at full capacity at 5.1 billion gallons stores. The Kirie TARP system is now storing 300 million gallons and the Calumet system is at 3.5 billion gallons, the MWRD said.