MWRD: More Water Aeration (including Centennial Fountain and Water Cannon) in Chicago

I have written notes on cities pumping a lot of water for purposes other than water supply: MWRD  pumps 1.3 billion gallons per day and Milwaukee used to pump 0.5 bgpd. These are more aeration facilities that I have discovered.

Chicago MWRD River Aeration Station

(Satellite)

On both sides of the Webster Ave. Bridge is an MWRD aeration station.

Google Earth, Jul 2019

Centennial Fountain and Water Cannon

(many photos; Satellite)

The night after I wrote the following, it occurred to me that the fountain recycles treated water, so it is not a Sidestream Elevated Pool Aeration (SEPA) Station. And I doubt the water cannon moves enough water to affect the dissolved oxygen levels. But I'm leaving it in these notes because I did a lot of work and because it is nice to see that MWRD can do something pretty, not just functional, with water.

In 1889, the Chicago Sanitary District was formed by the Illinois legislature to address the "river nuisance" in Chicago. In 1989, a successor organization, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), built this Nicholas J. Melas Centennial Plaza and Fountain to commemorate its 100th anniversary. The water arc of the water cannon is 8 stories tall and shoots 80' out. [ConnectingTheWindyCity, other sources claim the arc is 90' long]

"Mr. Melas was first elected as a water district commissioner in 1962 and remained with the district for 30 years, serving as president for 18 years before leaving the post in 1992....The water district honored Mr. Melas by naming its Centennial Fountain after him. The fountain, on the north side of the Chicago River at McClurg Court, regularly shoots an arc of water across the river. In 1998, Mr. Melas began his 10 years as a member of the Illinois Pollution Control Board." [ChicagoTribune]

LohanAnderson
[They were the architects of this structure.]

LohanAnderson
"The fountain and plaza were designed by Lohan Associates, headed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's grandson Dirk Lohan, who was also responsible for the controversial 2002 Soldier Field renovation." [ChicagoPublicArt]

Photo by Frank Geisler via TripAdviser

The cannon also obviously allows water to catch some air (oxygen). But it ran only 10 minutes each hour. And now it runs just five minutes because it was deemed a hazard to kayakers. It fires up on the hour for every hour between 10 and midnight except for 4pm. [LoopNorth] (Note the kayakers in the photo below.)

Photo by gasjoliet via TripAdviser

MWRD updated
📷 Pools of water cascade over the MWRD’s Nicholas J. Melas Centennial Fountain before spraying an arc across the main stem of the Chicago River. 

Barry Bulter Photography posted
Wednesday's Wow!   Navy Pier Fireworks and the Nicholas J Melas Centennial Fountain this evening in Chicago.
MWRD posted

Summertime in Chicago ❣️

📍 Nicholas J. Melas Centennial Fountain

Learn more: 

http://mwrd.org/.../chicago-area.../centennial-fountain

PatrickJ T. via yelp, cropped

Because the riverwalk and this fountain is a popular tourist attraction, there are quite a few videos of this feature. This one has a nice selection of views. As a bonus, it starts with some drawbridge action.
(new window)  The start of the fountain and cannon scenes