Epic Failure at Chicago Water Filtration Plants

Chicago Water destroying drinking supply

The City of Chicago has always been proud of its flagship moneymaker, The Department of Water Management. The building of the Chicago Water Filtration Water Plants is a modern marvel. Built in the 40’s the South Water Filtration plant was successfully providing water to Chicago and providing political jobs to the Mayor’s friends, family, and supporters. A couple decades later The Jardine Water Purification Plant come online and became the jewel of the Chicago Water Department.

The Jardine Water Plant was a wonderful building and a mechanical miracle that was the pride of Illinois. The Chicago Water System provides water to millions and had a reputation of some of the best tasting water in the world. This reputation was well deserved due to high quality hires and a successful team approach to problems.

After a series of scandals, the department was renamed the “Department of Water Management. When the Daley family-controlled Chicago, they started making Water Department the dumping ground for unqualified family and friends. These political hacks were unable to run the department and they burdened the taxpayers with consultants, private contractors, and the direct and indirect payroll ballooned.

Greedy Commissioners, unethical union goons, private contractors, Alderman’s kids littered the department and discontent started to escalate. Many of the workers at the bottom saw the opportunities to get ahead expire, the working environment decline, and discontent rise. The Bosses were in many case two-bit hustlers, and many were attempting to wheel and deal, skimp and scam. The worse the thefts, the worse the bosses mistreated workers, resulting in decreases the job satisfaction and personal pride.

As more and more management were hired, the worse things became. It quickly because a cesspool of thieves and crooks and a workforce harassed and disenchanted.

The Mayor’s office started stealing every penny from the Water Department to pay other bills and the situation compounded. Daley and then Rahm Emanuel attempted to cover-up all the negative press by bulling workers that were contacting the press every day.

First it was “Hired Truck Scandal, hiring scandal, email scandals, lead in the drinking water, and a host of whistleblowing activities. Many Whistleblowers were tipped off by the Inspector General by faxes to the different department. What a mess. The Unions stayed in the background and always sided with the Daley-Emanuel team. Finally, a disgruntled Commissioner, gave up full access to emails, security cameras, contracts, private phone conversations. Amazing.

The situation is now past critical. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment and supplies are missing, and payroll fraud is out of control. Contractors also provide services to Commissioners home and summer homes. Supplies are missing and the Jardine plant is tossing out more and more employees to satellite offices. The Department has denied workers compensation payment to non-clouted workers putting off the needed medical care, leaving seral employees bedridden.

The actions by the Daley-Emanuel bleeding the Department of Water Management blind, is now long past the cross roads. There is approximately over $100,000,000.00 in long over due emergency repairs.  The water filtration plants are sending millions of gallons of tainted water to the public. Every time it rains, snow melts, wind blows, the untreated water full of pollution, bird waste, tar, roofing compounds enter the Chicago drinking water supply. Every time it rains, hundreds of thousands of gallons of water rains on equipment, controls, and filter beds.

According to one source that wishes to remain nameless, the Daley family is involved in a deal to sell the Chicago Jardine and Sawyer Water Filtration Plants. By letting the plants fall apart, they can lower the price and make the privatization easier for a Parking Meter type takeover. J.B. Pritzker has not enforced the laws to protect the Chicago drinking supply. Something must be done now.

In 2016, Alderman Edward Burke pushed through the council and ordinance to rename the South Plant after Eugene Sawyer. Mayor Rahm Emanuel cut the ribbon. You think these bums would have had enough class to fix the plant first. No excuse for the premeditated destruction of Chicago.

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