Over the weekend, 500 people swam in the Chicago River for the first open water race through the river in nearly 100 years. The Freshwater Lab's founder and director, Rachel Havrelock, helps us understand how our waters are connected. www.wbez.org/in-the-loop-...

Park No. 571 occupies a site on the Chicago River that once housed a Peoples Gas plant. With Peoples Gas set to remediate its last parcel along the river, the park could be in line for a dramatic expansion. via Mack Liederman / @blockclubchi.bsky.social blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/16/b...

Residents and activists held a meeting calling for a community benefits agreement that would help address concerns such as environmental protections and job creation. trib.al/Lvfo8Ri

"About 97% of data center operators obtain water from municipal supplies. This means that, like regular citizens, these companies are considered customers and are not required to publicly disclose their usage or report it to a regulatory body." #GreatLakes #AI #Chicago #NoMoreSIngleUseWater

"Rachel Havrelock, a #UIC professor who directs research on water resources and equity, said exposure to lead intensifies health risks for low-income and minority communities already living near other hazards like industrial air pollution."

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a bill permitting Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District to sell recycled water and receive wastewater for treatment from private entities within a 50-mile radius, effective immediately. www.25newsnow.com/2025/08/20/n...

"We've worked with groups like Alliance for the Great Lakes and Dr. Rachel Haverlock at #UIC on #water reuse. (...) These data centers shouldn't be coming here and using our clean, fresh drinking water." - Jen Walling, The Illinois Environmental #NoMoreSingleUseWater www.wbez.org/reset-with-s...

Congrats to @mwrdgc.bsky.social Board of Commissioners on the resolution supporting water reuse across Cook County! It was truly a pleasure for The Freshwater Lab and the #UIC Water Reuse Team to collaborate on the resolution and on the research. www.freshwaterlab.org/from-waste-t....

Increasingly, residents, legislators and freshwater advocacy groups are calling for municipalities to more carefully consider where the #water that supplies these data centers will come from and how it will be managed. #NoMoreSingleUseWater #AI #GreatLakes insideclimatenews.org/news/1606202...

Great Lakes state officials have touted the region’s “blue economy,” and lured data centers to locate in the region, offering tax breaks and other incentives on top of the promise of all the water these centers need to cool their energy-intensive computing equipment. news.wttw.com/2025/08/20/m...

Who needs all that water when you’ve got a virtual ’soulmate’? capitolfax.com/2025/08/21/w...

Not just electricity — water supplies will be taxed by data centers minnesotareformer.com/2025/08/20/n...

"Without a consistent and transparent way to track #water consumption, the public and gov officials will make decisions without complete information on how these massive companies’ hot and thirsty buildings will affect their communities and their environments." planetdetroit.org/2025/08/grea...

The new Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park won't just house breakthroughs in computing speed. It'll do that as a thoughtful steward of Lake Michigan. 🌅 UIC's @thefreshwaterlab.bsky.social developed a plan that uses advanced treatment techniques for the goal of creating zero water waste. 💧

Help redefine the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal into a waterway that reflects our values and vision www.boldpastbrightfuture.org Ayuda a redefinir el Canal Sanitario y de Navegación de Chicago en una vía fluvial que refleje nuestros valores y visión www.boldpastbrightfuture.org #TheBackwardRiver

“I am very invested in implementing water reuse in the state of Illinois, and we know that it’s easier to build water reuse systems with new projects than it is for already established projects,” Rachel Havrelock said. “And [IQMP] is going to be a big project.” #NoMoreSingleUseWater

One study estimates that AI-driven data centers could consume 1.7 trillion gallons of water globally by 2027. #NoMoreSingleUseWater #AI #RecycledWaterForAI #RecycledWaterForIndustry www.bbc.com/news/article...

The use of #water for #data center cooling often requires pulling water from nearby sources-depleting local water sources. Publicly available data for data center water usage is limited, and there is often a lack of monitoring on site. #AI #NoMoreSingleUseWater climatejusticealliance.org/ai/

Freshwater Lab member Citlalli Trujillo sheds light on the impending demolition of the Damen Silos. #Pilsen #McKinleyPark #Chicago insideclimatenews.org/news/0307202...

Data centers require a lot of electricity, which is driving rates up around the country and grabbing headlines. What gets less attention is how much water they need. #NoMoreSingleUseWater #BlueEconomy #WaterBelt #RecycledWaterForAI #RecycledWaterForIndustry insideclimatenews.org/news/1606202...

Legislative update: Illinois House Bill 2391, which allows treated wastewater from publicly owned treatment works to be used for both irrigation and industrial applications, was passed! We're grateful for all the advocates, including our own Rachel Havrelock, & sponsors. www.ilga.gov/Legislation/...

“The property may be privately owned but the water remains under the public trust,” said Rachel Havrelock, director of The Freshwater Lab at the University of Illinois Chicago.

As part of a coalition of community leaders, university scientists and concerned citizens who have joined together to answer a question that has haunted this South Side neighborhood for decades: Why is it that Chatham experiences some of the worst basement flooding in the city?

Researchers have found that ingesting plastics can have detrimental effects on our cognitive abilities, fertility and overall cardiovascular health. And there’s no end in sight, with the projected exponential growth of plastic production tripling by 2050. depauliaonline.com/77066/news/t...

Line 5, owned by Calgary-based Enbridge, transports over 20 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids each day. Although it spans northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas, the pipeline carries Canadian oil back into Canada. 98% of the oil is consumed in Canada.

Rachel Havrelock, founder and director of The Freshwater Lab, sheds light on the state of #freshwater in #Chicago and globally. Watch her discuss The Freshwater Lab’s innovative efforts to address critical challenges shaping the future of freshwater. youtu.be/RGo_LmIerKc?...

Even then, adding new towns would likely pose a challenge for the commission’s water needs, especially with Minooka planning to build a data center that could need 3 million gallons of water a day. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/06/j...

The Advancing Water Reuse Act (H.R. 2940) was introduced in the House on April 17 to catalyze the use of recycled water by manufacturers, data centers and other industrial entities. waterfm.com/lawmakers-in... #NoMoreSingleUseWater #NoDrinkingWaterforIndustry #AI #Water #DataCenters

Joliet is at this crisis point because, like many communities around the country, it has depleted its groundwater to slake a growing population and a thirsty industrial base that includes an ExxonMobil refinery and Amazon warehouses. www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...

"We cannot let this be sacrificed. This is the most stable, productive, and mutually beneficial form of binational water governance on Earth.” - Rachel Havrelock, @thefreshwaterlab.bsky.social founder and director. grist.org/politics/us-...

Come join us on Thursday, April 24 at Patagonia x Worn Wear for an eye-opening event discussing the ongoing battle to shut down the Line 5 Pipeline. www.eventbrite.com/e/indigenous... #ShutDownLine5 #WaterIsLife

In a world of dwindling rivers, collapsing aquifers & drier land, we need to move away from single-use water. With the world’s largest wastewater storage and treatment facilities, the #Chicago area can become a global leader in #water reuse technology and application. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/c...