Toronto Water

The City of Toronto Water Division is a municipal division of the City of Toronto under Infrastructure and Development Services that is responsible for the water supply network, and stormwater and wastewater management in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as well as parts of Peel and York Regions.

Toronto Water
Toronto Water logo
Agency overview
Annual budget
  • Operating: C$463.9 million
  • Capital: C$867.4 million[1]
Agency executive
  • Lou Di Gironimo, General Manager
Parent departmentCity of Toronto government
Websitewww.toronto.ca/water
John Street Pumping Station in Downtown Toronto, 2018

History

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

Early Toronto Water Supply

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

Water carters would take the water and distribute it to customers across the city.[2]

Private Water Supply: Toronto/Furniss Water Works

From 1843 to 1873, water was privately provided by Furniss Works or Toronto Water Works, a subsidiary of Toronto Gas Light and Water Company, which was owned by Montreal businessman Albert Furniss.[3]

Following Furniss's death in 1872, the City of Toronto bought out Furniss Works and transformed the water supply to public hands under the Toronto Water Works Commission.[4]

Suburban Water

Outside of the pre-amalgamation City of Toronto each of the former municipalities had their own treatment plants and pumping stations:

  • North York
    • Oriole 1923 - ruins of pumping station found near Duncan Mills Road and Don Mills Road[5]
    • Steeles 1930s
    • Sheppard West 1940s
  • Scarborough 1921
  • New Toronto 1924

Prior to the 1950s, the municipalities were responsible for water treatment and water came from local water sources like wells and streams.

From Metro Toronto Public Works to Toronto Water

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).[6]

Drinking water operations

Treatment

Water pumped from Lake Ontario is treated via conventional drinking water treatment processes:[7]

  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 [8]
    • Queen Street East and Victoria Park Ave.
    • Capacity of 950 megalitres per day
  • Island Treatment Plant [9]
    • Located on Centre Island
    • Capacity of 410 ML/d
  • F. J. Horgan Treatment Plant (formerly Easterly) [10]
    • Copperfield Road
    • Capacity of 487 ML/d
  • R.L. Clark Treatment Plant (formerly Westerly) [11]
    • 23rd Street in Etobicoke
    • Capacity of 557 ML/d
    • Opened in 1968 replacing the New Toronto Filtration Plant (opened 1915 at Lake Shore Boulevard and Seventh Street and which became Lakeshore Pumping Station 1968-2000)[12]

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) [13]

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
Armour Heights Pumping Station West - North York Eastbourne Avenue at Wilson Avenue
Hanlan's Point Sewage Pumping Station Toronto Island West of Ned Hanlan's Memorial Dry well reservoir with three (3) Flygt NP3203 centrifugal self-cleaning pumps
Ashbridge's Bay Pumping Station South - Port Lands Lake Shore Boulevard East west of Coxwell Avenue
Dufferin Pumping Station West - North York Finch Avenue West east of Dufferin Street Pumping station located south of G. Lord Ross Reservoir
Ellesmere Pumping Station East - Scarborough Ellesmere Road near Scarborough Golf Club Road
Eglinton Pumping Station East - Scarborough Eglinton Avenue East near Pharmacy Avenue Pumping station attached to Ashtonbee/Eglinton Reservoir
Gore Park Pumping Station South - Downtown Fleet Street and Strachan Avenue
John Street Pumping Station South - Railway lands Lake Shore Boulevard West and Rees Street relocated and rebuilt due to construction of Skydome
Keele Pumping Station West - North York Keele Street and Steeles Avenue West Attached to underground reservoir
Lawrence Pumping Station West - North York Lawrence Avenue West and Caledonia Road Attached to underground reservoir
Parkdale Pumping Station South - Toronto The Queensway and Glendale Avenue
High Level/Poplar Plains Pumping Station South - Toronto Cottingham Street and Poplar Plains Road
Rosehill Pumping Station South - Toronto Mount Pleasant Road and Carstowe Road Attached to Rosehill Reservoir
Scarborough Pumping Station East - Scarborough 22 Fishleigh Drive
St. Albans Pumping Station West - Etobicoke St Albans Road and Bloor Street West
Island Pumping Station South - Toronto Lakeshore Avenue at Gilbratar Point Attached to Island Water Treatment Plant
West Toronto Pumping Station 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 [14] North - Markham located on 14th Avenue west of Kennedy Road in Markham undergoing expansion with new underground reservoir; serves current water tower
Bayview Pumping Station North - Thornhill 8190 Bayview Avenue at Sycamore Drive in Markham serves current underground reservoir

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, ensuring uninterrupted water supply.

There are 5 water towers located in the city[15] and 1 outside the city. They are mainly located in areas that cannot accommodate underground reservoirs due to space restrictions.

Name Type Region Location
Ashbridge's Bay steel reinforced concrete tower South - Toronto Lake Shore Boulevard East
Leslie Tank steel water tank North Central - North York Leslie Street and Lawrence Avenue East at Talwood Drive
Rouge Tower steel reinforced concrete tower North East - Scarborough 8200 Sheppard Avenue East near Morningside Road
Warden Tank steel water tank South East - Scarborough Warden Avenue and Civic Road
Whitlam Tank steel water tank South West - Etobicoke Whitlam Avenue and Twenty Second St
Milliken Tower 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 underground reservoir lies below Ashtonbee Park; grass sportsfield East - Scarborough (Golden Mile) 80 Ashtonbee Rd and 885 Pharmacy Avenue
2 Bayview Reservoir underground reservoir lies below Bayview Reservoir Park (City of Markham); grass soccer pithces and baseball diamonds North - Markham (Thornhill) 8190 Bayview Avenue south of Sycamore Drive
3 Dufferin Reservoir 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 underground reservoir next to Ellesmere Ravine park North East - Scarborough (Morningside) 2904 Ellesmere Road near Neilson Road
5 Keele Reservoir 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 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 steel reinforced contrete tower (1970s) with underground reservoir (2010) North - Markham (Hagerman's Corner) 4347 14th Avenue west of Kennedy Road
8 Richview Reservoir 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 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[16] underground reservoir at Sir Winston Churchill Park[16][17][18] South (1931) - Toronto (Casa Loma) 323 St. Clair Avenue West and Spadina Road

There are in-plant temporary storage tanks storing water as well:[19]

Name Type Region Location
Frank J Horgan Treatment Plant temporary storage - 68 mega litres South - Scarborough (East Point) 201 Copperfield Road; formerly Easterly Filtration Plant
Island Treatment Plant 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 temporary storage - 27 mega litres Southwest - Toronto (Humber Bay); former site of New Toronto plant
Scarborough Pumping Station temporary storage - 25 mega litres Southeast 22 Fishleigh Drive

In addition to water storage, the City has also constructed the following subterranean storm water detention tanks:

Name Type Region Location
Kenilworth Detention Tank Storm water detention tank (2.25 mega litres) East Toronto South side of Kew Beach Avenue, between Kenilworth and Pantry Park. Control room located east of tank
Maclean's Detention Tank Storm water detention tank (8 mega litres) East Toronto West side of Glen Manor Drive, south of Hubbard Boulevard.

Wastewater treatment

The West Rouge sewage pumping station operated by Distribution and Collection Section of Toronto Water.

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

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 the Toronto Water Division.

References

  1. "Toronto Water Budget". City of Toronto. 2017-11-03. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  2. Aulakh, Raveena (12 November 2010). "The digging begins on Avenue Rd". The Star. Toronto Star. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  3. The Culture of Flushing: A Social and Legal History of Sewage, p 66
  4. The Star. Toronto https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2010/11/12/the_digging_begins_on_avenue_rd.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. https://www.nyhs.ca/2011MysteryRuinsDMYM.pdf
  6. "History: supplying water to Toronto". City of Toronto. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  7. How is lake water turned into drinking water? (PDF), City of Toronto
  8. "About – R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant". City of Toronto. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  9. "About – Island Water Treatment Plant". City of Toronto. 2011-06-21. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  10. "About – F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant". City of Toronto. 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  11. "About – R.L. Clark Water Treatment Plant". City of Toronto. 1968-11-22. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  12. "New Toronto Filtration Plant/Lakeshore Pumping Station Historical Plaque". Toronto's Historical Plaques at Torontohistory.org. June 2002. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  13. "The water distribution system". City of Toronto. 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  14. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2009.PW25.6 Contract Award - Contract 09FS-42WS, Tender Call 59-2009 and Purchase Order Amendments for Milliken Pumping Station and Reservoir Expansion City of Toronto August 5, 2009
  15. "Water Towers and Standpipes in Ontario: T". Eureka4you.com. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  16. "St. Clair Reservoir photographs catalogue record". City of Toronto Archives catalogue. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  17. St. Clair Reservoir (Map). Cartography by OpenStreetMap contributors. OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  18. Strax, Kiril. "Underground reservoir at Sir Winston Churchill park". Kiril Strax's photostream. Flickr. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  19. "Page Not Found". Archived from the original on 2014-10-29. Cite uses generic title (help)
  20. "About – Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant". City of Toronto. 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  21. "About – North Toronto Wastewater Treatment Plant". City of Toronto. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  22. "About – Highland Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant". City of Toronto. 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  23. "About – Humber Wastewater Treatment Plant". City of Toronto. 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
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