If you imagine Baltimore city as a human body, its pipes and water mains could be compared to arteries, its trash and recycling services to white blood cells and its sewage lines as the lower intestines.

All of this infrastructure, critical for daily life in Baltimore, are overseen by one department: The Department of Public Works.

Interim director Richard Luna, named to the position last June, is tasked with the response to several pressing challenges, including aging infrastructure, a 2002 consent decree regarding sewage and wastewater overflows and potential changes to the oversight of the city's water and wastewater systems.

(Photo by Elvert Barnes, via Flickr. License: CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED)

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