![]() ![]() On November 10, 1834, the town trustees allocated $95.50 to dig a public well just north of the river’s short Main Branch (this and the North and South Branches divide the city into its North, South, and West Sides, then called divisions). The young town of Chicago’s first small step in constructing a water supply ignored both the river and the lake. ![]() Since the river flowed into the lake, to pollute the river, as Chicagoans most spectacularly did, was to risk ruining both as healthy water sources. But there was a catch: as was frequently the case with lake cities, Chicago took its water and dumped its waste in the same place. One might assume that access to an abundant quantity of good water would be the last problem Chicago would face, given the presence of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. ![]()
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