This ended forever contamination of Lake Michigan drinking water by Chicago sewage which heretofore had been emptied into the lake. Earlier, in 1885, six inches of rain in less than a day caused such contamination of the Lake Michigan water supply that deadly outbreaks of typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery and other water borne diseases devastated the city. He directed construction of a temporary 101 mile gravity pipeline from a freshwater spring at Waukesha, Wisconsin to the Exposition. Not one person became ill. A testament to what modern engineering could do for public health.
People living in areas endemic with cholera acquire a natural immunity.
Vaccination, however, provides only incomplete immunity. Treatment of cholera is largely supportive for dehydration. Water and sewage treatment along with effective sanitation remains the best defense against cholera. First, they face stomach acids which decimates them. Only one in a million microorganisms survives.