Toronto Water

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The St. Albans Pumping Station in Etobicoke.

Toronto Water was created following the 1998 amalgamation of Metropolitan Toronto to run and maintain Toronto's water supply network.

Contents

[edit] History

Water treatment was originally established to provide safe drinking water. In the 19th century, the water off the city's shores was severely polluted by dumping of waste from residences and businesses.

Before 1842, Toronto's water supply was manually pumped from the Lake, streams and wells.

Water carters would take the water and distributed across the city.[1]

From 1843 to 1873 water was privately provided by Furniss Works and there after by the City.

Each of the former municipalities had their own treatment plants and pumping stations:

Prior to the 1950s, the municipalities were responsible for water treatment. The current system was introduced in the mid 1950s with the formation of Metro Toronto in 1954 and was managed by Metro Toronto. Following amalgamation in 1998, Toronto Water was created from the Toronto Works and Emergency Services and once part of Metro Toronto Works department. Since 1975, Toronto has supplied water to York Region (mostly to residents in the south end of York).[2]

[edit] Drinking Water Operations

[edit] Treatment

Water pumped from Lake Ontario is treated via conventional drinking water treatment processes[3]:

  1. Pre-Chlorination
  2. Flocculation and Sedimentation
  3. Filtration
  4. Chlorination
  5. Chloramination, prior to distribution

The City of Toronto uses four water treatment plants:

  • R.C. Harris Treatment Plant [4]
    • Queen Street East and Victoria Park Ave.
    • Capacity of 950 megalitres per day
  • Island Treatment Plant [5]
    • Located on Centre Island
    • Capacity of 410 ML/d
  • F. J. Horgan Treatment Plant (formerly Easterly) [6]
    • Copperfield Road
    • Capacity of 487 ML/d
  • R.L. Clark Treatment Plant (formerly Westerly) [7]
    • The Queensway at Humber River
    • Capacity of 557 ML/d
    • Opened in 1968 replacing the New Toronto Filtration Plant (opened 1915 at Lakeshore Drive and Seventh Street and which became Lakeshore Pumping Station 1968-2000)[8]

[edit] Distribution

The drinking water distribution system operated by Toronto Water comprises 6 pressure zones and approximately 520 km of watermains (greater than 150 mm in diameter) [9]

Pumping stations are located across the city to pump water from the filtration plants to residences. They are particularly critical since the city gains in elevation as it moves northwards away from Lake Ontario. Some pumping stations are located outside the city.

Pumping Station Region Location Notes
Armoury Heights Pumping Station[citation needed] West - North York Eastbourne Avenue at Wilson Avenue
Ashbridge's Bay Pumping Station[citation needed] South - Port Lands Lakeshore Boulevard East west of Coxwell Avenue
Dufferin Pumping Station[citation needed] West - North York Finch Avenue West east of Dufferin Street Pumping station located south of G. Lord Ross Reservoir
Ellesmere Pumping Station[citation needed] East - Scarborough Ellesmere Road near Scarborough Golf Club Road
Eglinton Pumping Station[citation needed] East - Scarborough Eglinton Avenue East near Pharmacy Avenue Pumping station attached to Warden water tank
Gore Park Pumping Station[citation needed] South - Downtown Fleet Street and Strachan Avenue
John Street Pumping Station[citation needed] South - Railway lands Lakeshore Boulevard West and Rees Street relocated and rebuilt due to construction of Skydome
Keele Pumping Station[citation needed] West - North York Keele Street and Steeles Avenue West Attached to underground reservoir
Caledonia Park Pumping Station[citation needed] West - North York Lawrence Avenue West and Caledonia Road Attached to underground reservoir
Parkdale Pumping Station[citation needed] South - Toronto The Queensway and Glendale Avenue
High Level/Popular Plains Pumping Station[citation needed] South - Toronto Cottingham Street and Popular Plains Road
Rosehill Pumping Station[citation needed] South - Toronto Mount Pleasant Road and Carstowe Road Attached to Rosehill Reservoir
Scarborough Pumping Station[citation needed] East - Scarborough 22 Fishleigh Drive
St. Albans Pumping Station[citation needed] West - Etobicoke St Albans Road and Bloor Street West
Island Pumping Station[citation needed] South - toronto Lakeshore Avenue at Gilbratar Point Attached to Island Water Treatment Plant
West Toronto Pumping Station[citation needed] West - York Old Weston Road and Junction Road; formerly New Toronto


There are two pumping stations located outside of the city limits and part of the water service provided to York Region by Toronto:

Pumping Station Region Location Notes
Milliken Pumping Station[citation needed] North - Markham located on 14th Avenue west of Kennedy Road in Markham, Ontario undergoing expansion with new underground reservoir; serves current water tower
Bayview Pumping Station[citation needed] North - Thornhill 8190 Bayview Avenue at Willowbrook Road in Thornhill, Ontario serves current underground reservoir

[edit] Storage

Toronto water stores water in three formats:

  • Floating Reservoir - newer Water tower or older Water tank with limited capacity
  • Ground level Reservoir - underground water storage with grass covered top with large capacity
  • Temporary storage - stored at a water treatment plant with limited capacity

Water in the city is stored once it is treated and ensures uninterrupted water supply.

There are 5 water towers located in the city [1] and 1 outside the city. They are mainly located in areas that cannot accommodate underground reservoirs due to space restriction.

Name Type Region Location
Ashbridge's Bay[citation needed] steel reinforced concrete tower South - Toronto Lakeshore Boulevard East
Leslie Tank[citation needed] steel water tank North Central - North York Leslie Street and Lawrence Avenue East at Talwood Drive
Rouge Tower[citation needed] steel reinforced concrete tower North East - Scarborough 8200 Sheppard Avenue East near Morningside Road
Warden Tank[citation needed] steel water tank South East - Scarborough Warden Avenue and Civic Road
Whitlam Tank[citation needed] steel water tank South West - Etobicoke Whitman Avenue and 22nd
Milliken Tower[citation needed] steel reinforced concrete tower North - Markham 14th Avenue west of Kennedy Road

There are 10 underground reservoirs across Toronto and in Markham:

# Name Type Region Location
1 Ashtonbee/Eglinton Reservoir[citation needed] underground reservoir lies below Ashtonbee Park; grass sportsfield East - Scarborough (Golden Mile) 80 Ashtonbee Rd and 885 Pharmacy Avenue
2 Bayview Reservoir[citation needed] underground reservoir lies below Bayview Reservoir Park (Town of Markham); grass soccer pithces and baseball diamonds North - Markham (Thornhill) 8190 Bayview Avenue south of Sycamore Drive
3 Dufferin Reservoir[citation needed] underground reservoir lies on grass covered property; land on top being developed North - Vaughan (Thornhill) 8851 Dufferin Street south of Autumn Hill Boulevard
4 Ellesmere Reservoir[citation needed] underground reservoir next to Ellesmere Ravine park North East - Scarborough (Morningside) 2904 Ellesmere Road near Neilson Road
5 Keele Reservoir[citation needed] underground reservoir with grass soccer pitch on top North West - North York (York University Heights) 4995 Keele Street south of Steeles Avenue West
6 Caledonia Park Reservoir[citation needed] underground reservoir below Caledonia Park, a grass surface multi-use sports field North West (Caledonia Park) 1141 Caledonia Road at Lawrence Avenue West
7 Milliken Reservoir and Tower[citation needed] steel reinforced contrete tower (1970s) with underground reservoir (2010) North - Markham (Hagerman's Corner) 4347 14th Avenue west of Kennedy Road
8 Richview Reservoir[citation needed] underground reservoir below Richview Park and Carmen Bush Field South West - Etobicoke (Richview) 59 Clement Road - Martin Grove Road and Eglinton Avenue West
9 Rosehill Reservoir[citation needed] underground storage next to David Balfour Park; open reservoir 1874-1966, now covered with park South - Toronto (Summerhill) 75 Rosehill Avenue
10 St. Clair Reservoir[10] underground reservoir at Sir Winston Churchill Park[10][11][12] South (1931) - Toronto (Casa Loma) 323 St. Clair Avenue West and Spadina Road

There are in-plant temporary storage tanks storing water as well:

Name Type Region Location
Frank J Horgan Treatment Plant[citation needed] temporary storage - 68 mega litres South - Scarborough (East Point) 201 Copperfield Road; formerly Easterly Filtration Plant
Island Treatment Plant[citation needed] temporary storage - 34 mega litres South - Toronto (Toronto Islands) Lakeshore Avenue
R.C. Harris Treatment Plant temporary storage - 54 mega litres South - Toronto (Neville Park) Queen Street East at Neville Park Road
R.L. Clark Treatment Plant[citation needed] temporary storage - 27 mega litres Southwest - Toronto (Humber Bay); former site of New Toronto plant
Scarborough Pumping Station[citation needed] temporary storage - 25 mega litres Southeast 22 Fishleigh Drive


[edit] Wastewater treatment

The city of Toronto has four facilities that process wastewater before it is returned to the lake.

[edit] Organization

As of April 2005, the departments and commissioners were replaced by divisions under the City Manager (and Deputy Managers):

Toronto Water is now under Toronto Water Division.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.thestar.com/news/article/890303--the-digging-begins-on-avenue-rd?bn=1
  2. ^ http://www.toronto.ca/water/supply/system/history.htm
  3. ^ http://www.toronto.ca/water/supply/supply_facilities/rcharris/pdf/water_filtration_process.pdf
  4. ^ http://www.toronto.ca/water/supply/supply_facilities/rcharris/about.htm
  5. ^ http://www.toronto.ca/water/supply/supply_facilities/island/history.htm
  6. ^ http://www.toronto.ca/water/supply/supply_facilities/fjhorgan/history.htm
  7. ^ http://www.toronto.ca/water/supply/supply_facilities/rlclark/about.htm
  8. ^ http://www.torontohistory.org/Pages_MNO/New_Toronto_Filtration_Plant.html
  9. ^ http://www.toronto.ca/water/supply/system/distribution.htm
  10. ^ a b "St. Clair Reservoir photographs catalogue record". City of Toronto Archives catalogue. http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/torontodetail.html?key=84013. Retrieved 2 October 2011. 
  11. ^ OpenStreetMap (Map). Cartography by OpenStreetMap contributors. http://open.mapquestapi.com/nominatim/v1/details.php?place_id=2086047538. Retrieved 2 October 2011. 
  12. ^ Strax, Kiril. "Underground reservoir at Sir Winston Churchill park". Kiril Strax's photostream. Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/thru_the_night/3917234197/. Retrieved 2 October 2011. 
  13. ^ http://www.toronto.ca/water/wastewater_treatment/treatment_plants/ashbridges/about.htm
  14. ^ http://www.toronto.ca/water/wastewater_treatment/treatment_plants/north_toronto/about.htm
  15. ^ http://www.toronto.ca/water/wastewater_treatment/treatment_plants/highland_creek/about.htm
  16. ^ http://www.toronto.ca/water/wastewater_treatment/treatment_plants/humber/about.htm
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