Toronto Water was created following the 1998 amalgamation of Metropolitan Toronto

Metropolitan Toronto

The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was a senior level of municipal government in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area from 1954 to 1998. It was created out of York County and was a precursor to the later concept of a regional municipality, being formed of smaller municipalities but having more...

 to run and maintain Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

's water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

 supply network.

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.

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:

• North York
  • Oriole 1923
  • Steeles 1930s
  • Sheppard West 1940s
• Scarborough 1921
• New Toronto 1924

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

Toronto Works and Emergency Services

The Toronto Works and Emergency Services department was responsible for a variety of services.The department took over public works departments formerly managed by the former cities in Metro Toronto, as well as waste management portion of Metro Toronto Works.The division reported to a deputy city...

 and once part of Metro Toronto Works

Metro Toronto Works

Metro Toronto Works was a department within the former Regional Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto.The department was responsible for a variety of services:* Water filtration plants providing water to all of Metro Toronto* Sewage treatment plants...

 department. Since 1975, Toronto has supplied water to York Region (mostly to residents in the south end of York).

Operations

Toronto water stores water in three formats:

• Ground level Reservoir
  Reservoir
  A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
  
   - underground water storage with grass covered top with large capacity
• Floating Reservoir
  Reservoir
  A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
  
   - newer Water tower
  Water tower
  A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
  
   or older Water tank
  Water tank
  A Water tank is a container for storing water. The need for a water tank is as old as civilized man, providing storage of water for drinking water, irrigation agriculture, fire suppression, agricultural farming, both for plants and livestock, chemical manufacturing, food preparation as well as many...
  
   with limited capacity
• Temporary storage - stored at a water treatment plant with limited capacity

Distribution

Pumping stations are located across the city to pump water from the filtration plants to residences. They are particularly critical as the city is elevated as it moves northwards.
Some pumping stations are located outside the city.

Pumping Station	Region	Location	Notes
Armoury Heights Pumping Station	West - North York	Eastbourne Avenue at Wilson Avenue
Ashbridge's Bay Pumping Station	South - Port Lands	Lakeshore 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 Warden water tank
Gore Park Pumping Station	South - Downtown	Fleet Street and Strachan Avenue
John Street Pumping Station	South - Railway lands	Lakeshore 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
Caledonia Park 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/Popular Plains Pumping Station	South - Toronto	Cottingham Street and Popular 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	North - Markham	located on 14th Avenue west of Kennedy Road in Markham, Ontario Markham, Ontario Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...	undergoing expansion with new underground reservoir; serves current water tower
Bayview Pumping Station	North - Thornhill	8190 Bayview Avenue at Willowbrook Road in Thornhill, Ontario Thornhill, Ontario Thornhill is a community in the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the northern border of the city of Toronto. Once a municipal village, Thornhill is now a community and postal designation geographically split into two municipalities along Yonge Street, the city of...	serves current underground reservoir

Storage

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

There are 5 water towers located in the city http://www.eureka4you.com/wtower-on-t/ and 1 outside the city. They are mainly located in areas that cannot facilitate underground reservoirs due to space restriction.

Name	Type	Region	Location
Ashbridge's Bay	steel reinforced concrete tower	South - Toronto	Lakeshore 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	Whitman Avenue and 22nd
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 (Town 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	underground reservoir at Sir Winston Churchill Park	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	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

Treatment

Water pumped from the lake is treated with filters and chlorinated before use at the city's filtration plants:

• R.C. Harris Treatment Plant - Queen Street East and Neville Park
• Island Treatment Plant - Lakeshore Avenue
• F. J. Horgan Treatment Plant (formerly Easterly) - Copperfield Road
• R.L. Clark Treatment Plant (formerly Westerly) - The Queensway at Humber River
  • 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)

Wastewater treatment

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

• Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant
  Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant
  The Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant is the city of Toronto's main sewage treatment facility, and the largest such plant in Canada. One of four plants that service the city of Toronto, it treats the wastewater produced by some 1.3 million of the city's residents and has a capacity of...
  
  
• North Toronto Wastewater Treatment Plant
• Highland Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant
• Humber Wastewater Treatment Plant

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.