Jeffrey Kowar grew up paddling and fishing on the once heavily polluted Chicago River.
Now he supports that river’s rebirth as an operator at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s 175 mgd (average) Terrence J. O’Brien Water Reclamation Plant.After college he worked in a beverage company’s quality assurance department before joining the district as a microbiology lab technician in 2015. He became a plant operator in 2017.His influences: “I thank my parents for teaching me the value of hard work, and my wife Becca for believing in me. My mentors include my direct supervisor Sandra Matual; Lynn Kohlhaas who
