A downstate Illinois town may turn out to be the Pearl Harbor of America’s burgeoning cyber war after Russian hackers blew out part of its water system. Should we worry in Chicago? more ›

There is a new battle over the separation of Church and State bubbling up around an unlikely issue...water bills. more ›

City officials announced yesterday that they'll start testing the city's water supply for hexavalent chromium. A study released late last month showed that Chicago's water supply contained higher levels of the metal than what was the standard allowable level in California. The announcement closely followed a memo released by the EPA to more closely monitor levels of the metal made infamous in the movie Erin Brokovich. more ›

While Mayor Daley and City Hall insist there are no current plans to privatize the city's water system, this story over at the Sun-Times claims there's another idea the City may mull over: bottling and selling Lake Michigan water. Fran Speilman caught up with Tom Powers following his confirmation hearing to become Water Management Commissioner: more ›

Updated studies show that by 2015 some outlying suburbs could face a long-term water shortage according to Crain's. Water supplies are not going to dry up but projections by the University of Illinois Water Survey show that water supplies won't be able to keep up with population growth. As a result, pumping water from them will become cost-inefficient said Josh Ellis, a water policy expert at the Metropolitan Planning Council. He told Crain's:

Communities served by Lake Michigan face the same long-term problem. From drinking water to the reversal of the Chicago River, the Chicago region is now diverting 85% of the lake water that a Supreme Court decision allows; without conservation, that limit could be reached in 15 years.

Why the city is technically not breaking any rules or laws by excluding them, their failure to list some of what was found in the waters of Lake Michigan seems disingenuous. The annual report was recently sent to residents across the cities and while the City did follow the rules, the Tribune took a look at the full report and came across a few discoveries: more ›

Now in its third year, UNICEF's Tap Project has grown from a New York-specific one-off to a national event. Through Saturday restaurants throughout the country will ask customers to donate $1 (or more) to UNICEF for something — tap water — some of us may take for granted. more ›

Over 90 billion gallons of storm runoff water rushed into Lake Michigan this weekend in an attempt to slow or prevent further flooding. A typical heavy rainstorm in the Chicago area brings between 3 and 4 inches of rain in a day; this weekend, parts of Chicagoland saw more than 9 inches of rainfall in a day. Chicago's water management systems aren't built for these kinds of storms, and the "deep tunnel," which holds 2.5 billion gallons of water, was full by 7:30 a.m. Saturday. more ›

Yesterday was Lollapalooza's first ever sell out (as is Saturday), cramming over 75,000 people into Grant Park, and it felt we were jostled by every single one during Radiohead's closing headline set. We bumped into fest curator Perry Farrell and spotted a few other celebs standing at the side of the stages. Also in attendance? The sun. One of the loudest cheers we heard all day was when the first cloud blessed us with its presence...around 5 p.m. Amongst the sun and beer cups was some fantastic music and some performances that left us wanting a little more. more ›

Yeah, kind of. Back in March, a study found a cocktail of chemicals in metropolitan drinking water, but the study didn't include Chicago's supply. Well, the Trib commissioned a study of local samples, and guess what? It found trace amounts of "an anti-seizure drug, a common painkiller, caffeine and two chemicals used to make Teflon and Scotchgard." more ›

Looks like Chicagoans weren't as thirsty for bottled water as the city had hoped. At least not in January. The 5-cent tax on bottled water brought in $550,000 in the first month of this year, which is way short of the $875,000 the city projected. more ›

Not that we're going to be spending any time lounging at the new Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago anytime soon. Especially seeing as how they have a $25 bottle of water in their minibar. more ›

The long-threatened lawsuit challenging the city's bottled water tax was finally filed in Cook County Circuit Court yesterday, five days after the tax went into effect. more ›

Although the cover story to yesterday's Sun-Times said that diners shouldn't be alarmed, it's hard to not be after reading the sensationalized cover story which listed 21 restaurants whose ice had more bacteria than a toilet in the Sun-Times men's room. A note for downtown workers looking for lunch this afternoon: you may want to buy a bottled drink. The testing of ice cubes from 49 area restaurants found that the unlucky 21 tested for... more ›

If you're in Greektown this morning and see a bunch of people milling about at the Halsted/UIC Blue Line station, just go about your normal business. Those folks are from the Think Outside the Bottle campaign staging a protest demanding that Coca-Cola reveal the sources it uses for its Dasani brand bottled water. Bottled water has come under intense scrutiny lately, from a proposed tax on bottled water by City Council being considered to bridge... more ›