Jardine Water Purification Plant

{{short description|Water plant in Chicago}}

File:Jardine Water Purification Plant 2022.jpg

The Jardine Water Purification Plant, formerly the Central District Filtration Plant, is a water filtration plant located at 1000 East Ohio Street, north of Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. It draws raw water from two of the city's water cribs far offshore in Lake Michigan and supplies two thirds of City of Chicago consumers in the northern, downtown, and western parts of the city and to many northern and western surrounding suburbs.

The plant was constructed in the 1960s and began functioning in 1968.{{cite web|url=http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/chiriver.shtml|title=Water Purification |date=|publisher=Eastland Memorial Society|accessdate=2007-09-30}} The plant was renamed after James W. Jardine (1908-1977), a 42-year city employee, who served as water commissioner from 1953 until his retirement in 1973. Shortly thereafter the Ohio Street Beach was formed in the bay created by the plant. Landscaping around the plant and in the adjoining Milton Olive Park was designed by Dan Kiley, and a statue, Hymn to Water, by Milton Horn graces the front entrance.

The southern portion of the city and many southern suburbs are served by a separate plant, the Sawyer Water Purification Plant.{{Cite web|url=https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/09/19/south-side-water-filtration-plant-named-after-former-mayor-eugene-sawyer/|title = South Side Water Filtration Plant Named After Late Mayor Eugene Sawyer|date = 19 September 2016}} Together the two plants supply water to about 3 million households in the city and 118 suburbs.{{cite web|url=http://www.algor.com/news_pub/cust_app/jardine/jardine.asp|title=World's Largest Water Treatment Plant Optimizes Procedures Based on ALGOR Fluid Flow Results|date=2007|publisher=ALGOR, Inc.|accessdate=2007-08-13}}

Filtration methods used by the Jardine Water Plant is extraction and adding chemical additives; with the use of sand and gravel to filter the water, while the chemical additives being fluoride to fight off tooth decay, phosphates to avoid corrosion from the pipes, and chlorine for disinfection.{{Cite web|title=How Chicago Purifies One Million Gallons of Water Every Minute|url=https://gizmodo.com/how-chicago-purifies-one-million-gallons-of-water-every-5843022|access-date=2021-11-17|website=Gizmodo|language=en-us}}{{coord|41.8947|N|87.6062|W|display=title}}