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Illinois / Waters /

Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal

Canal in Illinois, past Chicago, Downers Grove, Du Page, Lemont, Lockport, Lyons, Palos and Stickney

Current status

Discharge possible: heavy rain, no report received

Radar shows that recent rain at a combined sewer system's outlets has reached the amount set for that system, and its operator has not reported a discharge. It reads "discharge likely" where the amount is the one at which that system has discharged before, or a rain trigger its state publishes, and "discharge possible" where only this site's default of 0.1 inch applies. This is an estimate, not a report. This status since . Why this status, and its source

This badge describes the water outline. Check the downstream stretches on the map and below for discharge statuses.

Map sources: water outlines and launches from OpenBoatLaunch and OpenStreetMap contributors (Open Database License); wastewater outlets from EPA and state records; downstream estimates by DirtyWaterWatch using U.S. Geological Survey maps and flow data. Base map: OpenFreeMap and OpenMapTiles.

Solid dots mark combined sewer outfalls. Ringed dots mark treatment plant outfalls. A yellow ring with a dashed edge means discharge likely or possible: heavy rain, no report received. Square boat markers mark boat launches listed by OpenBoatLaunch. Dashed river stretches are estimates.

Get alerts from City of Chicago (Chicago CSO) · Bookmark this water page and check it before each trip · Report a missing notice or error

About this status

Discharge possible: heavy rain, no report received: heavy rain at a sewer operator's outlets reached this site's default amount, and no report received; shown for 48 hours after the rain (site rule). 4.7 in of rain fell in the 24 hours to Nov 6, 2026, 2:00 AM CST at Village of Forest View's outfalls (NOAA radar estimate).

Source: NOAA National Weather Service, MRMS radar-only rainfall estimate, valid Nov 6, 2026, 2:00 AM CST, retrieved 2026-11-06 08:57 UTC; threshold: site default; rule: How it works, discharge likely or possible. · Updated

Estimated downstream stretches on Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal

none from a report; 10 routes below outlets with a status

No stretch below a reported discharge has a current status here as of Nov 6, 2026, 3:03 AM CST. The routes below wastewater outlets carry the status shown on each.

Estimated routes below wastewater outlets

10 routes below outlets
  • Caution Permit IL0020800, outlet DS-M07 · 25.162 kilometres estimated · Estimate stops at a lake or bay
  • Caution Permit IL0028053, outlet 142 · 36.864 kilometres estimated · Estimate stops at a lake or bay
  • Caution Permit IL0028053, outlet 143 · 28.717 kilometres estimated · Estimate stops at a lake or bay
  • Caution Permit IL0028053, outlet 144 · 26.699 kilometres estimated · Estimate stops at a lake or bay
  • Caution Permit IL0028053, outlet 145 · 25.754 kilometres estimated · Estimate stops at a lake or bay
  • Caution Permit IL0028053, outlet 146 · 23.354 kilometres estimated · Estimate stops at a lake or bay
  • Caution Permit IL0028053, outlet 147 · 19.841 kilometres estimated · Estimate stops at a lake or bay
  • Caution Permit IL0028053, outlet 148 · 17.816 kilometres estimated · Estimate stops at a lake or bay
  • Caution Permit IL0028053, outlet 149 · 16.539 kilometres estimated · Estimate stops at a lake or bay
  • Caution Permit IL0028053, outlet DS-M01 · 40 kilometres estimated · Estimate stops at the 40-kilometre limit

Source: DirtyWaterWatch estimates using U.S. Geological Survey river maps and flow measurements. The estimate stops at tidal water, the first lake or the distance limit.

The last 90 days

Last 90 days, hour by hour. Red: discharge or advisory reported. Amber: caution. Hatched amber: end not confirmed. Plum: algal bloom advisory. Red or amber with a light line inside: beach advisory or caution. Dotted: monthly report (days with discharge, dates not given). Grey: no current status on the water outline. Purple hatching: a status resting on a source that could not be checked on schedule.

Source: DirtyWaterWatch calculations using the reports named above and the published status rules. Updated 2026-11-06 09:03 UTC.

Reported discharges over time

  • Discharges affecting the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in Illinois, last 12 months0December 2025 to November 2026Verified reports where available, else notices; revisions and duplicates counted once. Arriving discharges are estimated from modeled downstream reaches.
  • Records behind the last-90-days strip for the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in Illinois7Reported on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in Illinois: 0 · Arriving from outfalls upstream, estimated: 0 · Other records (rain-likely and similar): 7last 90 daysEvery distinct record the strip lists for its red, yellow and unresolved hours, notices and unresolved reports included; counted as the strip counts them.

Combined sewer overflow (CSO): sewage mixed with rainwater spills from a shared sewer system. Sanitary sewer overflow (SSO): sewage spills from a sewer meant to carry sewage separately from rainwater. Treatment bypass: wastewater skips one or more treatment steps. Blended discharge: wastewater that skipped some treatment is mixed with treated wastewater.

Reported discharges per month

0 reported discharges, January 2022 to November 2026.

  • Combined sewer overflow
  • Sanitary sewer overflow
  • Treatment bypass, blended or other
  • Incomplete source coverage
Limited records

Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sewer overflow records; il-mwrd-lake-michigan-reversals. Records cover January 1, 2022 to November 6, 2026.

Show table
How these charts are counted

We count each discharge once. Where a source publishes notices and confirmed reports, we use confirmed reports for an operator's month when available; otherwise we use notices. We combine revisions and exclude duplicate state reports copied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Monthly and yearly totals appear separately. Status hours follow this site's rules. Shaded gaps mean missing coverage, not zero discharges.

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sewer overflow records: records from May 3, 2022 to the latest update (limited records)
  • il-mwrd-lake-michigan-reversals: records from March 4, 1985 to July 3, 2023

Reports linked to Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal

No reports are linked to this water yet. Check local notices and our source coverage.

Wastewater outlets on this water

Outfall: a pipe or outlet where wastewater enters a water body.

Combined sewer outfalls

54 outfalls · discharge possible now at 54

Discharge possible: heavy rain, no report received at 54 outfalls now: radar rainfall has reached the operator's threshold and no discharge report has arrived (NOAA radar estimate).

Showing 12 of 54.

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) national combined sewer outfall inventory (ECHO) and state outfall layers. Open or closed as EPA's inventory lists it. DirtyWaterWatch links outlets to waters using permit numbers, locations and names.

Treatment plant outfalls

6 outfalls

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permit records (ICIS-NPDES permitted features): where a treatment plant’s permitted discharge leaves. No national source says whether a plant outfall is open or closed.

Sewer operators listed for this water: City of Chicago (Chicago CSO), Metro Water Reclamation Distric Of Greater Chicago (MWRDGC Lemont WRP), Metro Water Reclamation District Of Greater Chicago (MWRDGC Stickney WRP), Village of Forest Park (Forest Park CSOS), Village of Forest View, Village of Lemont, Village of Stickney (Stickney CSOS), Village of Summit (Summit CSOS).

Boat launches

Source: OpenBoatLaunch launch records (public agency data and OpenStreetMap, Open Database License).

Nearby waters

Sources covering this water

0 records linked to this water. Updated .