Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility celebrates 100 years of service

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- When we turn on our faucets at home, we assume clean water will come out, and most of us don't think much about how that happens. 

Wednesday, local leaders gathered for a celebration at Jones Island along Lake Michigan. 

This year marks 100 years of service for the Water Reclamation Facility there. 

This is the plant that helps the Metropolitan Sewerage District clean billions of gallons of wastewater every year for more than a million people in 29 communities. 

When it opened in 1925, it was not a universally popular innovation. 

"We owe a lot to the so-called 'sewer socialists' who created our parks and our sewerage systems," said Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride. "They received that derisive nickname from the political naysayers because they cared less about political ideology and much more about protecting the wellbeing of our residents."

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson proclaimed a special day in honor of the reclamation plant's 100th anniversary. It's already on the National Registry of Historic Places. 

To learn more about how you can help our city's waterways, you can visit Milwaukee Riverkeeper and Plastic Free MKE.