League of Women Voters®
of Wilmette
Making Democracy Work
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Timeline:
The League of Women Voters of Wilmette, Wilmette Public Library, and Go Green Wilmette presented an abridged viewing of the film Liquid Assets, followed by a discussion of community and regional water management issues. Almost 40 people including State Senator Daniel Biss attended LWV Wilmette's Liquid Assets program on September 24 at Wilmette Library. The program raised community awareness about management of national and local water systems infrastructure.
Our program's format was a combined presentation of selected film clips from the documentary Liquid Assets followed by presentations from Wilmette's Director of Engineering Brigitte Mayerhofer and Nabil Quafisheh, Superintendent of Wilmette's Water Plant.
Penn State Public Broadcasting produced Liquid Assets as a public media and outreach initiative. The film outlines the public water supply's crucial roles in maintaining public health, public safety, and the economy, using examples from communities of all sizes and locations throughout the country, each with its own challenges. The audience viewed specific segments highlighting the value of water, the evolution of provision of safe drinking water and removal of waste and stormwater; management and rehabilitation of aging systems, and a section highlighting 21st century solutions for maintaining our water infrastructure. A common theme emerged: we need to care for our water resources.
How is all this relevant to our own community? Following the film, Brigitte Mayerhofer provided the audience with important information about Wilmette's sewer system.
Ms. Mayerhofer:
Mr. Quafisheh showed an interactive DVD as he explained how water is obtained from Lake Michigan, treated, filtered, stored, and delivered to our homes as safe drinking water. He emphasized that the plant and all systems operate according to standards set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The process begins with lake water intakes that reach out approximately one mile from the plant into the Lake Michigan. Water flows to the plant by gravity, where is undergoes a multistep process before it is ready to become our drinking water. Our plant produces drinking water for both Wilmette and Glenview (70% of the water that Wilmette produces is for Glenview; many of us did not know that!).
Finally the speakers welcomed audience questions and addressed a variety of broad and specific issues.
A reading list compiled by the Library is below..
To see streaming video from Village of Wilmette on Wilmette's Sewers and Stormwater, click the link to the Wilmette's Website.
The Board of Park Commissioners meets on the second Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Village Hall, 1200 Wilmette Avenue. All meetings are open to the public.