Before Chicago Water, Des Plaines Drew Supply from Wells

As Chicago water prices skyrocket, Des Plaines is seeking to disconnect and find a less expensive source. Once, Des Plaines found its water in the ground.

Previously: 

Des Plaines' municipal water supply has its origin in 1893, when the Village of Des Plaines contracted with W. H. Gray & Brothers of Chicago to dig an artesian well sufficient to supply one hundred gallons of water per minute. According to the book "Greetings from Des Plaines, Illinois", the well was completed six years ahead of schedule, in 1903. Located on River Road at the foot of Ashland Avenue, in 1908 the well was augmented with the above pumping station, sheltering the pumping machinery.

This pumping station was a key part of Des Plaines' growth. Houses and businesses had a reliable fresh water supply. This capacity grew after the construction of a water tank reservoir across the river in in about 1915. By 1927, the two wells at the water plant had dwindled to 5,000 gallons a day, and a new well was built privately by the William H. Cater company on Thacker Street west of the Chicago & Northwestern tracks. The city rented the well from Cater, and the old pumping station became used as Public Works facilities. After 1940, however, the city's growth began to outpace the well's capabilities. The old well just wasn't enough to supply the Douglas Aircraft plant, residential growth, and the population explosion that would follow World War II.

By 1938, Mayor Charles Garland was seeking to connect to the Chicago water supply via Maine Township High School, for emergency purposes, in case the Cater well broke. This began a 25 year quest for a new water source.

Chicago insisted that Des Plaines either purchase all of its water from them, shutting its own wells, or none. A second well was dug in 1946, called "temporary" until a Chicago deal could be arranged. The Cater well did briefly break in 1947, before the second well was complete, and the city had to turn to local industry Benjamin Electric's private water supply temporarily. By 1954, a third 1800 foot well had been dug, and two more were approved, along with an addition to the water softening plant and a million-gallon reservoir.

These were still stopgap measures, and Des Plaines formed a joint municipal commission called D.A.M.P. (for Des Plaines, Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, and Palatine), seeking a new source for water. The commission sought to get water from Lake Michigan while retaining the ability to use its own wells during droughts. They would seek to purchase from Evanston, to build their own connection to the Lake, or to purchase from Chicago, but all efforts, from 1956-1964, were ultimately unsuccessful. Two more wells were dug by 1964, when Des Plaines withdrew from the commission and turned to Chicago.

Des Plaines then built the current water facility at Maple & Touhy Avenues, and eventually shuttered the Cater facility on Thacker. Adjacent to , the property is now the Citadel Estates subdivision, built in 1995.

The old Pumping Station was demolished in the 1950s and replaced by Park. In a twist of fate, the property would later become important to Des Plaines' water needs again, as an important connection in the Deep Tunnel flood control system.

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