(WTTW News)

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District treats stormwater and wastewater for more than 5 million people in Cook County. One of the methods to treat that water is a surprising way to reuse a byproduct from the creation of a very popular beverage: locally brewed beer.

(Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
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Of all the governmental entities a voter might encounter on a ballot, the MWRD is arguably the one people interact with the most — multiple times per day, whether they realize it or not — yet understand the least.

Juvenile channel catfish released into the Chicago River on May 12, 2015. (Friends of the Chicago River)

Two organizations have joined forces to release nearly 200,000 fish into the Chicago and Calumet waterways over the past two years.

As the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District cuts the ribbon on it's new sewage reservoir, we revisit Jay Shefsky's visit in May to the bottom of the Thornton Quarry.

One pension system in Illinois has been reformed-- it's the one at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. Could the plan be a blueprint for the other state pensions in trouble?