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.

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.

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.
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.

Suburban Water

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

Drinking water operations

Treatment

Water pumped from Lake Ontario is treated via conventional drinking water treatment processes:
  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:
The drinking water distribution system operated by Toronto Water comprises 6 pressure zones and approximately 520 km of watermains
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 StationRegionLocationNotes
Armour Heights Pumping StationWest - North YorkEastbourne Avenue at Wilson Avenue
Hanlan's Point Sewage Pumping StationToronto IslandWest of Ned Hanlan's MemorialDry well reservoir with three Flygt NP3203 centrifugal self-cleaning pumps
Ashbridge's Bay Pumping StationSouth - Port LandsLake Shore Boulevard East west of Coxwell Avenue
Dufferin Pumping StationWest - North YorkFinch Avenue West east of Dufferin StreetPumping station located south of G. Lord Ross Reservoir
Ellesmere Pumping StationEast - ScarboroughEllesmere Road near Scarborough Golf Club Road
Eglinton Pumping StationEast - ScarboroughEglinton Avenue East near Pharmacy AvenuePumping station attached to Ashtonbee/Eglinton Reservoir
Gore Park Pumping StationSouth - DowntownFleet Street and Strachan Avenue
John Street Pumping StationSouth - Railway landsLake Shore Boulevard West and Rees Streetrelocated and rebuilt due to construction of Skydome
Keele Pumping StationWest - North YorkKeele Street and Steeles Avenue WestAttached to underground reservoir
Lawrence Pumping StationWest - North YorkLawrence Avenue West and Caledonia RoadAttached to underground reservoir
Parkdale Pumping StationSouth - TorontoThe Queensway and Glendale Avenue
High Level/Poplar Plains Pumping StationSouth - TorontoCottingham Street and Poplar Plains Road
Rosehill Pumping StationSouth - TorontoMount Pleasant Road and Carstowe RoadAttached to Rosehill Reservoir
Scarborough Pumping StationEast - Scarborough22 Fishleigh Drive
St. Albans Pumping StationWest - EtobicokeSt Albans Road and Bloor Street West
Island Pumping StationSouth - TorontoLakeshore Avenue at Gilbratar PointAttached to Island Water Treatment Plant
West Toronto Pumping StationWest - YorkOld 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 StationRegionLocationNotes
Milliken Pumping StationNorth - Markhamlocated on 14th Avenue west of Kennedy Road in Markhamundergoing expansion with new underground reservoir; serves current water tower
Bayview Pumping StationNorth - Thornhill8190 Bayview Avenue at Willowbrook Road in Markhamserves current underground reservoir

Storage

Toronto water stores water in three formats:
Water in the city is stored once it is treated, ensuring uninterrupted water supply.
There are 5 water towers located in the city and 1 outside the city. They are mainly located in areas that cannot accommodate underground reservoirs due to space restrictions.
NameTypeRegionLocation
Ashbridge's Baysteel reinforced concrete towerSouth - TorontoLake Shore Boulevard East
Leslie Tanksteel water tankNorth Central - North YorkLeslie Street and Lawrence Avenue East at Talwood Drive
Rouge Towersteel reinforced concrete towerNorth East - Scarborough8200 Sheppard Avenue East near Morningside Road
Warden Tanksteel water tankSouth East - ScarboroughWarden Avenue and Civic Road
Whitlam Tanksteel water tankSouth West - EtobicokeWhitlam Avenue and Twenty Second St
Milliken Towersteel reinforced concrete towerNorth - Markham14th Avenue west of Kennedy Road

There are 10 underground reservoirs across Toronto and in Markham:
#NameTypeRegionLocation
1Ashtonbee/Eglinton Reservoirunderground reservoir lies below Ashtonbee Park; grass sportsfieldEast - Scarborough 80 Ashtonbee Rd and 885 Pharmacy Avenue
2Bayview Reservoirunderground reservoir lies below Bayview Reservoir Park ; grass soccer pithces and baseball diamondsNorth - Markham 8190 Bayview Avenue south of Sycamore Drive
3Dufferin Reservoirunderground reservoir lies on grass covered property; land on top being developedNorth - Vaughan 8851 Dufferin Street south of Autumn Hill Boulevard
4Ellesmere Reservoirunderground reservoir next to Ellesmere Ravine parkNorth East - Scarborough 2904 Ellesmere Road near Neilson Road
5Keele Reservoirunderground reservoir with grass soccer pitch on topNorth West - North York 4995 Keele Street south of Steeles Avenue West
6Caledonia Park Reservoirunderground reservoir below Caledonia Park, a grass surface multi-use sports fieldNorth West 1141 Caledonia Road at Lawrence Avenue West
7Milliken Reservoir and Towersteel reinforced contrete tower with underground reservoir North - Markham 4347 14th Avenue west of Kennedy Road
8Richview Reservoirunderground reservoir below Richview Park and Carmen Bush FieldSouth West - Etobicoke 59 Clement Road - Martin Grove Road and Eglinton Avenue West
9Rosehill Reservoirunderground storage next to David Balfour Park; open reservoir 1874-1966, now covered with parkSouth - Toronto 75 Rosehill Avenue
10St. Clair Reservoirunderground reservoir at Sir Winston Churchill ParkSouth - Toronto 323 St. Clair Avenue West and Spadina Road

There are in-plant temporary storage tanks storing water as well:
NameTypeRegionLocation
Frank J Horgan Treatment Planttemporary storage - 68 mega litresSouth - Scarborough 201 Copperfield Road; formerly Easterly Filtration Plant
Island Treatment Planttemporary storage - 34 mega litresSouth - Toronto Lakeshore Avenue
R.C. Harris Treatment Planttemporary storage - 54 mega litresSouth - Toronto Queen Street East at Neville Park Road
R.L. Clark Treatment Planttemporary storage - 27 mega litresSouthwest - Toronto ; former site of New Toronto plant
Scarborough Pumping Stationtemporary storage - 25 mega litresSoutheast22 Fishleigh Drive

In addition to water storage, the City has also constructed the following subterranean storm water detention tanks:
NameTypeRegionLocation
Kenilworth Detention TankStorm water detention tank East TorontoSouth side of Kew Beach Avenue, between Kenilworth and Pantry Park. Control room located east of tank
Maclean's Detention TankStorm water detention tank East TorontoWest side of Glen Manor Drive, south of Hubbard Boulevard.

Wastewater treatment

The city of Toronto has four facilities that process wastewater before it is returned to the lake.
As of April 2005, the departments and commissioners were replaced by divisions under the City Manager. Toronto Water is now under the Toronto Water Division.