City Systems

Thousands of people work in Chicago’s government. You probably see the mayor on television, and you see other government workers in your community. If you see a police officer or a crossing guard, they are government workers. They are safety workers, and they are part of a system that helps everyone in the city. Thousands of people work every day to keep you safe, make sure you have water and other services.

There are other safety workers you don’t see, but they keep you safe. There are food inspectors. They go to restaurants, not to eat but to check for problems. They make sure the restaurant is clean so that customers won’t get sick. You may have seen a sign on a restaurant that it was closed by the health department. The inspectors have found serious problems. The restaurant will be inspected again before it is allowed to open. Sometimes a person gets sick because of food at a restaurant. That person usually takes a day to recover. Some people even have to go to the hospital after they get food poisoning. 

There are many workers who help run the city’s systems. One of the systems you don’t see is mostly underground. It is the sewer system. That system carries the dirty water from homes and businesses. The water goes to a sewage treatment site. There it is cleaned. Workers have to make sure the sewers are working. They need to check for leaks. They may need to replace a part of the system. If you have ever seen a hole in the road and workers digging deep underground you know they’re fixing a sewer. When a sewer breaks it is urgent to fix it. If they don’t fix it right away, it could become a health problem.

There’s another system that involves water. It is the water system. People in Chicago have very clean water. The water you drink comes from the lake. About fifty years ago, it would come right from the lake and go into people’s homes. Pipes carried it to the homes. People might turn on the faucet and get water and a little fish. Yes, a fish could come into the home from the pipes. It would have traveled from the lake to the home. Pipes still carry water to the homes, but now it is filtered first. There is a very big filtration plant along the lakeshore. Water is pumped into the plant. Then it is cleaned. Then it is pumped to homes and businesses through the system of pipes under the city. There are hundreds of miles of pipes that carry the water. 

So every day when you get water, cross a street, or go to a restaurant, you’re being helped by the government. The systems that the government runs help people stay safe and healthy. The thousands of people who work for the government all work for you.