More than 100 years ago, Chicago became home to an engineering feat: The flow of the Chicago River was reversed, diverting sewage from flowing into Lake Michigan, the city’s source of drinking water.

Throughout much of its history in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Chicago River served as the city’s dumping ground. Part of the river earned the infamous moniker “Bubbly Creek” due to the methane ...

CHICAGO – Every year, the plumbers' union dyes it green. The Dave Matthews Band once infamously dumped 800 pounds of poop into it. And at least one section became known for the bubbles produced by ...